Environment & Climate Change
Navajo energy company’s CEO steps down
The CEO of the Navajo Transitional Energy Company will be resigning from his post on Jan. 31. Source New Mexico obtained CEO Clark Moseley’s Jan. 7 letter to Navajo President Jonathan Nez and Council Speaker Seth Damon referencing his resignation at the end of the month and listing accomplishments achieved by NTEC during Moseley’s time […]
NM leaders promote hydrogen production despite questionable environmental benefits
Two big hydrogen-based business projects are the cusp of a wave of investment and jobs that New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham hopes to see wash across the state — and they have arrived before her Hydrogen Hub Act had a chance to debut at the upcoming legislative session. That act is to be her signature bill for […]
Some Democrats push to rescue climate plan in Biden spending package
A group of congressional Democrats on Tuesday called for preserving the climate portions of President Joe Biden’s stalled domestic spending bill as Democrats in the U.S. Senate rewrite the measure. U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Tina Smith of Minnesota and John Hickenlooper of Colorado, along with Reps. Kathy Castor […]
Pueblos demand input on LANL power line development through sacred site
Pueblo leaders are asking the federal government for an extension to evaluate plans to develop a power line through a sacred cultural site in the Santa Fe National Forest. The All Pueblo Council of Governors wrote to the Department of Energy saying tribes were not fully consulted on the plans to build a 12.5 mile, […]
States spend big money in the Texas v. New Mexico Supreme Court fight
The state governments of Texas and New Mexico have spent more than $30 million combined on legal fees in the fight over Rio Grande water, which is now before the United States Supreme Court. Invoices and contracts from both attorneys general offices show the states think that water is worth fighting over as Texas has doled […]
EPA devotes some federal cleanup funds to two toxic sites in NM
Former battery sludge lagoons in Socorro and a dry-cleaning chemical spill in Roswell were chosen by federal officials as destinations for cleanup funding, decades after the areas were contaminated. Socorro Mayor Ravi Bhasker said the funding’s been a long time coming, as cancer-causing manufacturing chemicals were first found in city water in the late 1980s. […]
4 New Year’s resolutions for a healthier environment in 2022
When many people think of New Year’s resolutions, they brainstorm ways to improve themselves for the year ahead. What if we expanded those aspirations to include resolutions that benefit our communities, society and the planet, too? It might not be a typical approach, but it can broaden your horizons to show ways you can also […]
What the Texas-New Mexico dispute over the Pecos River can tell us about the Rio Grande fight
An 8-year-old Supreme Court lawsuit about a dispute over groundwater pumping on the Rio Grande between Texas and New Mexico has been in trial virtually — with the first part concluding in mid-November and the second slated for spring. Texas alleges in the lawsuit that New Mexico farmers’ pumping of groundwater has reduced Texas’ water […]
More people join call for UNM Foundation to divest from oil and gas
Accusations that the University of New Mexico Foundation violates state law around public charities and conflicts of interest appear to be gaining momentum. The foundation invests in oil and gas, and some of its members have ties to the industry. But are those ties close enough to constitute a legal violation? A group fighting for […]
Schumer vows U.S. Senate action on voting rights and social policy, as Manchin rift deepens
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday he plans to force votes on voting rights, a sweeping social policy bill and a change to Senate rules early next year — even as members of his caucus have made clear in recent days Democrats lack the support to pass those proposals. In a letter to […]
A better way to share water from the shrinking Colorado River
The Colorado River is a vital lifeline for the arid U.S. Southwest. It supplies water to seven states, Mexico, 29 reservations and millions of acres of irrigated farmland. The river and its tributaries support 16 million jobs and provide drinking water to Denver, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Tucson […]
After public pressure, ABQ Council confirms Pfeiffer to environmental board
Albuquerque councilors confirmed the appointment of the first Native person ever to serve on the city government’s Environmental Planning Commission, according to city sources. She’ll also be the only woman on the board. But it was only after public pressure and a letter-writing campaign from numerous organizations in support of the candidate, who said she […]