Until 1997, city politics was dominating by an “overbearing one-party system that discouraged independent grass-roots organizing” (Preston Online), causing many of the citizens to become entirely discouraged with the political system. Although the government was aware the problem existed, it was made quite clear that the residents would not have much say in say in bringing about change. Since the residents did not believe they could bring about change in a problem as pervasive as smog, they never made any effort. “Of course it bothers us,” said Alejandra Perez, a Nezahualcoyotl resident. “But we don’t do anything about it. No one in power would pay attention to us if we did.”
One reason why the government has not fully dealt with the issue of pollution is that there are many other problems for the residents of Mexico City. An example of such an issue is a problem that Isabel Bustamante must deal with everyday. After 30 years in her house, she still has no running water (Preston Online). The Mexican government has many problems to deal with and pollution is just one of them.
Many changes the government makes are met with hesitance on the part of the people if they perceive the changes as an inconvenience. Every time the government takes cars off of the streets, there are many complaints from the countless motorists who are forced into using Mexico City’s poor public transportation. Not all of the people in the city are aware of just how dangerous their predicament is. “People in this city would rather drive than breathe,” says Alejandro Encinas, the city’s Environment Secretary (Preston Online). Although this is an exaggeration, a lack of environmental awareness is evident in the actions of many citizens of Mexico City.
This lack of education stems from the government not making information available to the citizens. On a day when the city officials had declared a smog emergency, meaning people should not exercise, one citizen, Andres Altamirano was defiant. He was riding his bicycle and planning to run and play soccer later in the day. “Just because there’s pollution we’re not going to stop practicing sports,” he said (Guggenheim Online). Although nothing positive can come out of playing sports for Andres Altamirano on a smog emergency day, it seems as though he, and many of the other people in Mexico City, have basically given up.
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