Washington (Platts)--12Jan2009
US President-elect Barack Obama met privately Monday with Mexico
President Felipe Calderon to discuss energy policy, global climate change and
a host of other issues.
Speaking to reporters after the closed-door meeting at the Mexican
Cultural Institute in Washington, Obama praised Calderon for the "leadership"
he has shown on energy issues. He did not elaborate.
Obama also sounded a somewhat dire warning about the need to reduce
industrial greenhouse gas emissions, saying, "I believe that the future of the
economy is going to rest on how we're able to adapt to a potential crisis with
climate change."
He has called for stringent, mandatory caps on GHG emissions from power
plants, oil refineries and other industries. Since the November election, he
has said several times that he would not scale back his ambitious climate
policies because of the current economic crisis.
As for Obama's pre-Inauguration Day meeting with Calderon, the transition
team said there is a "long-standing tradition" of US presidents-elect meeting
with the Mexican president prior to being sworn in on January 20.
"It is a tradition that is appropriate that the incoming president of the
United States meets with the president of Mexico because we have such an
extraordinary relationship between our two countries," Obama told reporters
after his meeting.
Aside from energy and climate change, Obama said that he and Calderon
also discussed immigration, border security, and the "current financial
crisis," among other things.
--Brian Hansen, brian_hansen@platts.com
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