Views NAFTA as Positive Force in addressing economic and environmental issues

January 8, 2008 - NEW MEXICO - Border Trade Alliance (BTA), the leading tri-national organization representing border communities and trade, has appointed Erin Martin Ward to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors for 2009.  Ms. Ward continues to serve as the Chair of the BTA's Environment and Health committee and brings with her nearly 20 years of experience in combining cross-border trade, international policy, and environmental resource efforts to improve the quality of life at the border.

An expert in environmental and border affairs, Ms. Ward is acting Director of Border Projects at New Mexico State University, where she leads the research and publication of reports that address the needs of border communities.  She is both a founding member of the Southwest Consortium for Research and Policy (SCERP), the largest and longest-running U.S.-Mexico research consortium, and adviser to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Border 2012 Program, where she serves as U.S. leader of EPA's regional Environmental Education Task Force.

Her passion for border issues began in the late 1980's, while working in El Paso as a news writer for the Associated Press and Scripps-Howard newspapers.  Having grown up along the Canadian border, Ms. Ward noticed vast discrepancies in U.S. policy applications between the Northern and Southern borders and was alarmed by environmental conditions she encountered along the border with Mexico.  In 1990, She left the news business to pursue efforts at improving conditions along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Air quality, at the time, was beyond a health hazard," Ward said. "Often, it felt like you could not see beyond your hand...you needed to turn your lights on to drive down the street in the daylight."

Through her reporting experience, Ms. Ward understood that addressing these problems would require international cooperation from both public and private sectors.   She immediately jumped on board with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) because she saw it as a comprehensive vehicle to begin addressing many of the quality of life issues at the border that had been neglected for years.

"I think we underestimate the enormous success NAFTA has had in cleaning up the air, improving drinking water and addressing national resources issues," Ms. Ward said. "We can put a half-check in the box, in terms of our attention to U.S.-Mexico border environmental issues, thanks to the impetus that NAFTA gave us.  Federal governments on both sides of the border, have been very sincere in putting together plans, programs and resources to improve our environmental conditions, and it's tangible - you can actually see things moving in a good direction."

Ms. Ward's work with NAFTA led her to the Border Trade Alliance in the late 1990's, when she prepared one of the first research-based analyses describing the significance of border trade to the U.S. domestic economy. Her work highlighted the need for federal investment in border infrastructure and environmental improvements.

"I joined the BTA because I identified it as the largest and best coordinated organization representing border interests, one that actually gets things done," Ms. Ward said. "The BTA is accomplished. It has a string of successes. And it's policies are fair, reasonable and progressive."

For 2009, Ms. Ward sees the challenge of educating the large number of newly elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as the public, on the reality of current border issues.

"There is huge difference between perception and reality at our shared border with Canada and Mexico when it comes to some in the federal government and national media," Ms. Ward said.  "We need to narrow that reality gap, so when policy initiatives are put on the table, we have a more realistic dialog and a better outcome."

Ms. Ward sees promise in the Obama administration's appointments of border state leaders Janet Napalitano and Hillary Clinton to key cabinet positions as having potential for improving border policy and raising the prominence of U.S. borders in national policy.

Growing national attention on the economy, infrastructure investment and the environment also bode well for the BTA, according to Ms. Ward.  Ensuring that post 9-11 policies and resources balance our physical security with our economic security, while maintaining a focus on quality of life and the environment, is a central tenant of the BTA.

"We must raise our investment in resources and infrastructure for our overburdened ports of entry and for our North American transportation corridors. This is important for improving market efficiency and mitigating the environmental impacts of congested trade corridors," Ms. Ward said.