Environment & Climate Change
Nearly all national park sites to close during government shutdown
Almost all National Park Service sites will be inaccessible during a partial federal government shutdown likely to start this weekend, the U.S. Interior Department said Friday. The agency will bar access to most of the nation’s 425 parks, recreation areas, national historic sites and other units, according to a fact sheet from the Interior Department, […]
FEMA has paid out just 2% of fund to help wildfire victims rebuild. Some can’t wait much longer.
On a recent sunny morning in the high pastures of northern New Mexico, Tito Naranjo greeted a pair of federal surveyors on a patch of gravel where his traditional adobe home once stood. Naranjo used his walking stick to show them the outline of where his sunroom had been before it burned up in a […]
The bond between a father and his son is moving Truchas forward
TRUCHAS — David Trujillo, Sr. stood in front of the fire station he used to lead and gestured to the peaks over Truchas, a town of under 300 people that sits on a jagged piece of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains over 8,000 feet above sea level. “See those peaks up there? Years ago, I […]
How a looming government shutdown could hit national parks
National parks and nearby communities could forego millions of dollars per day during a partial government shutdown that could start this weekend. Would-be visitors will likely see restrictions on park access, though the extent of those restrictions was still unclear just days before a potential lapse in federal appropriations set to begin Sunday. Parks would […]
Battery storage seen as ‘backbone’ of reliable electric grid but adoption uneven across US
SEARCY, Ark. — In the decarbonized future envisioned by many states, utilities and the federal government, expect more power plants like Entergy Arkansas’ facility here, where thousands of gleaming panels and banks of batteries spread across 800 acres about 50 miles northeast of Little Rock. The Searcy Solar Energy Center, a 100-megawatt solar and storage […]
Loggers ask lawmakers to help their industry to eliminate wildfire threats
Lawmakers and local loggers laid into the U.S. Forest Service at a meeting on Friday, seeking better management of forests in New Mexico to prevent future catastrophic wildfires. The Economic and Rural Development and Policy Committee invited a few people from the logging industry who are based in southern New Mexico to speak about forest […]
New Mexicans to get around $9 monthly refunds on PNM bills for a year
Hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans can expect to save over $100 on their utility bills over the course of the next year or so. The state’s Public Regulation Commission on Thursday approved a settlement that will send $115 million back to customers of the Public Service Company of New Mexico. The settlement helps end […]
Albuquerque climate action demands more from industry and elected leaders
Ahead of this week’s massive climate action in New York City and around the world, hundreds in downtown Albuquerque gathered to express their demands. The Albuquerque Climate Strike took place on Sept. 14 where people marched from Robinson Park to outside of The Clyde Hotel, where elected leaders and business stakeholders attended the New Mexico […]
Americans sickened by radioactive waste press Congress for action on assistance
WASHINGTON — Victims of nuclear contamination rallied in the nation’s capital on Wednesday in support of bipartisan legislation that would extend compensation for those harmed by radioactive waste. U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, and Ben Ray Luján, a New Mexico Democrat, held a rally and press conference outside the U.S. Capitol as part […]
U.S. Senate panel grapples with how to ensure access to water amid Western drought
Decades of drought in the West has made water quality and quantity a major issue requiring government funding and innovation to fix, members of a U.S. Senate panel said Wednesday. Demand for water in growing municipalities is stretching agricultural and tribal communities, while shrinking availability is leading to higher water prices, witnesses told the Senate […]
State regulators could approve coal plant settlement, sending $115M back to New Mexicans
Public Regulation Commissioners could approve a total of $115 million in refunds for those who get power from the Public Service Company of New Mexico. If authorized at the PRC meeting today, this will come in the form of credits on utility bills for New Mexicans over the course of a year. PNM agreed to […]
Pipeline headed to Eastern N.M. after decades of work
PORTALES – As the late July sun was setting on a football field in Eastern New Mexico, several local high school teams were spread out across the grass, running drills ahead of practice matches. This is a very typical scene across the country in late summer. What was different in Portales, a town of about […]