Power-plant projects in Mexico’s Baja California state, intended in part to meet energy demand in the United States, are raising concern that air pollution will worsen in two border regions already feeling the environmental effects of torrid growth. On the outskirts of Mexicali, construction is scheduled to begin before the end of the year on two new power plants capable collectively of generating 1,500 megawatts once they start up in 2003. And plans are being discussed for a third plant near Mexicali—this one with a 269-megawatt capacity—that would begin operating in 2005. In the Rosarito Beach area just south of Tijuana, meanwhile, Mexican officials on July 5 opened a new plant at the Presidente Juárez power-generation complex. This, plus the... [Log in to read more]