The Mexican government is drawing up new standards that will require automobile manufacturers to offer vehicles with low carbon dioxide emissions. Tierramérica learned of the news from a source at the National Institute of Ecology who requested anonymity, but who claimed to speak in name of that institution.

Mexico's car industry could easily adopt the new parameters, whose date of implementation is not yet set. The standards will be similar to those being considered in Europe and the United States for car imports, said the source.

Eighty percent of car production in Mexico is for export. There are some 26 million cars circulating on Mexican roads. From 1990 to 2006, carbon dioxide emissions from transportation sources jumped from 90 million to 150 million tons.