MEXICO CITY, March 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mexican Senator Ninfa Salinas Sada completed last week a working visit to Austin, Texas, where she met with key academics and state policy makers to continue to strengthen coordination of environmental and energy agendas between Mexico and the most important US state in terms of energy and environmental issues.

Invited by the University of Texas, the Senator gave a special keynote address at the Center for Global Energy of the University of Texas, Austin. The talk, entitled "The Past, Present, and Future State of the Environmental and Energy Sectors in Mexico" outlined some of the challenges for North America in terms of environmental and energy policy as the Obama administration enters its second term, and Mexico's Peña administration faces important legislative reforms in the areas of the environment and energy policy.

"Senator Salinas is a leading figure on the transitional discussions in Mexico about energy and environmental issues," said Dean Ward Farnsworth of the UT School of Law.

Salinas is chair of the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee of the Mexican Senate, and also sits on the Justice Committee, the North American Foreign Relations Committee, and the Energy Committee.  She is an expert on environmental and energy issues.  Prior to her senatorial post, Salinas served in the Mexican House of Representatives, where she wrote a number of important bills, including Mexico's new Law on Climate Change and a bill to increase investment in the clean water. 

The Senator also met with experts at UT  Austin's Clean Energy and Technology Incubator, as well as with top state policy officials. She later participated in a session of dialog with Texas Representative to the US Congress, Henry Cuellar.

SOURCE The Office of Senator Ninfa Salinas Sada