Impacts of Wind Energy on Family and Local Economies in the ISTMO of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca
Amira María García-Martínez *
Tecnológico Nacional de México / Instituto Tecnológico de Oaxaca, Avenida Ing. Víctor Bravo Ahuja No. 125 Esquina Calzada Tecnológico, C.P. 68030, Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Rafael Gabriel Reyes-Morales
Tecnológico Nacional de México / Instituto Tecnológico de Oaxaca, Avenida Ing. Víctor Bravo Ahuja No. 125 Esquina Calzada Tecnológico, C.P. 68030, Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Ivan Alberto Garcia-Cruz
Tecnológico Nacional de México / Instituto Tecnológico de Oaxaca, Avenida Ing. Víctor Bravo Ahuja No. 125 Esquina Calzada Tecnológico, C.P. 68030, Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Xochitl Berenise Gonzales-Torres
Tecnológico Nacional de México / Instituto Tecnológico de Oaxaca, Avenida Ing. Víctor Bravo Ahuja No. 125 Esquina Calzada Tecnológico, C.P. 68030, Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Marbella Sánchez-Soriano
Tecnológico Nacional de México / Instituto Tecnológico de Oaxaca, Avenida Ing. Víctor Bravo Ahuja No. 125 Esquina Calzada Tecnológico, C.P. 68030, Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Faustino Benjamin Rivera-Lopez
Tecnológico Nacional de México / Instituto Tecnológico de Oaxaca, Avenida Ing. Víctor Bravo Ahuja No. 125 Esquina Calzada Tecnológico, C.P. 68030, Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Vicenta Rios-Maldonado
Tecnológico Nacional de México / Instituto Tecnológico de Oaxaca, Avenida Ing. Víctor Bravo Ahuja No. 125 Esquina Calzada Tecnológico, C.P. 68030, Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The implementation of wind farms in the Istmo of Tehuantepec is a clear example of the use of the green economy as a strategy for capitalist accumulation, based on the use of the discourse of environmental mitigation to ensure the accumulation of large volumes of capital, for the benefit of national and transnational corporations. All this at the cost of the territorial rights of peasant societies, the dispossession of their resources and the destruction of their cultural landscape. Wind energy has become a symbol of the type of "sustainable" development sought by the new local, state and federal administrations. They promote social and environmental impact studies that consolidate wind projects as the option for the energy transition, where the only difficulty is the lack of adequate negotiation spaces regarding land rent. The wind potential in the Istmo of Tehuantepec is imperative, as it favors the development companies, limiting the benefits for local communities and increasing social rejection to the projects.
Keywords: Wind energy, social impact, Istmo of Tehuantepec