MEXICO CITY : To Breath or to Ride?

Residents of the Mexican capital will be scrambling for taxis this weekend thanks to the latest government actions meant to clean up the city’s notorious air pollution.

Previously the city’s taxi fleet had been exempt from a law requiring that privately owned automobiles be kept off the streets one day a week. But not anymore. Half the taxis now have a forced day off each Saturday.

The move is part of tough regulatory measures enacted after record-high pollution levels recorded last month. Federal environmental officials have also given the capital’s 300 major factory polluters an ultimatum: Switch to cleaner-burning energy sources or cut production by 30% for the rest of the winter. Mexican natural gas is used primarily for fuel in homes and as a raw material for chemical manufacturing, so little is normally available for industrial use.