Organizations Reject Sheinbaum's "Sustainable Fracking" and Urge Compliance with Ban

A coalition of indigenous communities and civil organizations has issued a strong call to President Claudia Sheinbaum, urging her to uphold her campaign pledge to ban hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking. The demand comes amid discussions initiated by her administration about the possibility of implementing "sustainable fracking," a concept vehemently rejected by the activists.

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There is no such thing as 'sustainable fracking,' neither in Mexico nor anywhere else in the world.

Representatives from communities in Veracruz, the Huasteca Potosina, and northern Mexico, gathered under the banner of the Mexican Alliance Against Fracking, have voiced grave concerns. They assert that fracking has led to widespread contamination, serious health issues, and irreparable damage to water resources and the environment. "There is no such thing as 'sustainable fracking,' neither in Mexico nor anywhere else in the world," declared Alejandra Jiménez, a spokesperson for the alliance, underscoring the group's firm stance.

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I was proud that a woman would be our president. I was at the handover of the staff of command (investiture), and today I even feel ashamed because now she wants to destroy us with this practice.

The activists are demanding that the scientific committee tasked with evaluating fracking techniques be mandated to visit the communities directly impacted by this practice. They want the committee to witness firsthand the environmental degradation and health consequences. Hermelinda Vázquez, representing communities in the Huasteca Potosina, expressed deep disappointment, stating, "I was proud that a woman would be our president. I was at the handover of the staff of command (investiture), and today I even feel ashamed because now she wants to destroy us with this practice."

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Go and smell, go and see how people live in the territories that have already been impacted by hydrocarbons and by 'fracking'. Take a sip of water from what the colleagues have to drink day by day.

Concerns about water scarcity are particularly acute. Leslie Sánchez of "Coahuila Sin Fracking" and "Noreste Sin Fracking" highlighted that each fracking well can consume between eight and 80 million liters of water. In states already facing significant water stress, such as Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas, expanding fracking would condemn the population to severe scarcity. The activists paint a stark picture: fracking is a "technology of death" that depletes water, destroys social fabric, and sickens communities, a reality they implore the government to see beyond the rhetoric of "progress."

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Destining millions of liters of water to this technique in states with water stress is condemning the population to scarcity.