<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Environment – NMPolitics.net</title> <atom:link href="https://nmpolitics.net/index/tag/environment/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index</link> <description>The real story</description> <lastBuildDate>Wed, 06 Feb 2019 10:36:26 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <item> <title>Governor backs plan for outdoor recreation agency</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2019/02/governor-backs-plan-for-outdoor-recreation-agency/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 06 Feb 2019 10:12:40 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News and Analysis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2019 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Public lands]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=675204</guid> <description><![CDATA[Lujan Grisham's administration has put the tourism and outdoor industries at the top of its economic development efforts.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_650258" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-650258" src="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Organ-Mountains-771x578.jpg?x36058" alt="Organ Mountains" width="771" height="578" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Organ-Mountains-771x578.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Organ-Mountains-336x252.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Organ-Mountains-768x576.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Organ-Mountains-800x600.jpg 800w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Organ-Mountains.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net</p><p class="wp-caption-text">The Organ Mountains in southern New Mexico.</p></div> <p>Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday threw her support behind legislation establishing a state office of outdoor recreation, which an unlikely coalition of backers say would boost an industry they view as key to diversifying New Mexico’s economy.</p> <p>The newly elected Democrat did not just put her political muscle behind the idea, either. She put her calf muscles behind it, bicycling from the governor’s mansion to the Capitol in a show of support for <a href="https://nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=S&legType=B&legNo=462&year=19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate Bill 462</a>.</p> <p>“Montana, you’re done. We’ve got it all right here,” Lujan Grisham later told reporters.</p> <p>She was probably only half-joking. Her administration has quickly put the tourism and outdoor industries at the top of its economic development efforts.</p> <aside class="module align-left half type-aside"> <h3>About this article</h3> <p>This article comes from <a href="http://www.santafenewmexican.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Santa Fe New Mexican</a>. NMPolitics.net is paying for the rights to publish articles about the 2019 legislative session from the newspaper. Help us cover the cost by <a href="https://nmpolitics.net/index/donate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">making a donation to NMPolitics.net</a>.</p> </aside> <p>And a crowd ranging from conservationists to conservative rural lawmakers are on board. They see the outdoors as a resource they can capitalize on to buoy communities that have struggled economically or are facing a future in which old industries might no longer be reliable.</p> <p>Senate Bill 462 would set aside $1.6 million to establish the Outdoor Recreation Division within the Economic Development Department.</p> <p>The division would help develop businesses geared toward the outdoors and market New Mexico’s outdoor attractions. The division would also help expand structure such as trails to promote outdoor recreation.</p> <p>And it would manage a fund for programs to get young people from low-income communities into the outdoors.</p> <p>The industry has been getting organized for years, bringing together groups as disparate as the hook-and-bullet crowd, snowboarders and mountain bikers. And part of that has included having state as well as local governments recognize the outdoors industry as the big business it is.</p> <p>Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, South Carolina and Montana already have created offices of outdoor recreation, according to industry news website SNEWS.</p> <p>In some of these states, such offices have been key to winning big attractions, such as the Outdoor Retailer trade show that moved from Salt Lake City to Denver in 2017 and took with it thousands of visitors.<span id="more-675204"></span></p> <p>But that is not necessarily where the new administration wants to focus.</p> <p>“This cannot be about just chasing — and I don’t mean that in a negative way — large business enterprises,” Lujan Grisham told reporters during a news conference in her office with the bill’s gaggle of Democratic and Republican legislators. “… It’s really a signal that New Mexico will help small, local businesses both be more sustainable and grow. And we want to create new businesses.”</p> <p>In New Mexico, the sector already supports 99,000 jobs in and generates $9.9 billion in consumer spending annually, according to the Outdoor Industry Association, a trade group.</p> <p>Backers say the sector can buoy the economies of rural communities by drawing tourists, as well as supporting businesses that may serve those visitors or ply the world beyond New Mexico with products such as outdoor gear.</p> <p>“The things that are part of our tradition, our heritage, our culture will lead us to a brighter economic future,” said Rep. Nathan Small, a Democrat from Las Cruces and a sponsor of the bill.</p> <p>Still, there’s a fragile quality to what makes the state so beautiful. With its sparse crowds and unique culture, can the state really invite more visitors and not risk them either loving New Mexico to death or turning a place like Taos into an adobe version of Aspen?</p> <p>The bill’s rollout Tuesday seemed designed to rebuff criticism that building up the outdoor industry is just to kowtow to affluent adventurers in search of skiing or trophy hunting.</p> <p>Lujan Grisham was flanked by her secretaries of economic development, tourism and Indian affairs.</p> <p>Rep. D. Wonda Johnson, a Democrat from Church Rock and a sponsor of the bill, said developing the outdoor industry will go hand in hand with protecting sacred sites and allowing communities to share their own stories.</p> <p>“There’s certain things in our state that are nonpartisan,” said Sen. Steven Neville, a Republican from Farmington and another co-sponsor. “And outdoor recreation and the economy are those kinds of things.”</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Bill would freeze fracking permits while impacts are studied</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2019/02/bill-would-freeze-fracking-permits-while-impacts-are-studied/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2019 16:00:47 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News and Analysis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2019 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Climate change]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Energy policy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=674918</guid> <description><![CDATA[It's a drastic proposal for a state whose economy heavily depends on oil and gas.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_56542" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-56542" src="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-771x504.jpg?x36058" alt="A statue outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe." width="771" height="504" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-771x504.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-336x220.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-768x502.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse-1170x764.jpg 1170w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Kids-at-Roundhouse.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net</p><p class="wp-caption-text">A statue outside the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.</p></div> <p>When you’re driving at night through Counselor, N.M., on U.S. 550 the horizon takes on a dusky illumination, almost like daylight, Samuel Sage said during a Monday news conference in Santa Fe.</p> <p>Bright light flares from natural gas being burned off as part of oil and gas production, which has become increasingly common in that area of Northwestern New Mexico, particularly since 2013, said Sage, a member of the Navajo Nation’s Counselor Chapter House.</p> <p>Sage was among several environmental advocates who gathered at the state Capitol in support of a bill that, if passed, would create a four-year moratorium on any new state permits for hydraulic fracturing — a type of deep horizontal drilling that injects high-pressured fluid below ground.</p> <p>The bill also outlines extensive reporting requirements for several state agencies related to the impacts of fracking.</p> <aside class="module align-left half type-aside"> <h3>About this article</h3> <p>This article comes from <a href="http://www.santafenewmexican.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Santa Fe New Mexican</a>. NMPolitics.net is paying for the rights to publish articles about the 2019 legislative session from the newspaper. Help us cover the cost by <a href="https://nmpolitics.net/index/donate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">making a donation to NMPolitics.net</a>.</p> </aside> <p>“All we want is clean air and clean water,” Sage said.</p> <p>It’s a drastic proposal for a state whose economy heavily depends on oil and gas, particularly at a time when the industry is booming and creating a financial windfall for New Mexico. But environmentalists say that is also why the legislation is critical now.</p> <p>“I know this isn’t a real popular bill but it’s important,” said co-sponsor Sen. Antionette Sedillo Lopez, D-Albuquerque, citing low regulatory staffing and a lack of study of public health or environmental impact. “I have heard story after story about how fracking is impacting people but we don’t have any data.”</p> <p>Robert McEntyre, a spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, called the bill “light on facts and science,” saying fracking has already been well studied and the bill’s backers failed to gain input from the industry and communities that support oil and gas development.</p> <p>“As a whole, the legislation would be a disaster for New Mexico,” he said. “It would result in financial ruin. It would devastate economies in the southeast and the northwest.”</p> <p>Sedillo Lopez, a freshman legislator, said she wants to provide more data and regulatory resources.</p> <p>“After eight years of the Martinez administration gutting regulatory agencies, we have had very little chance to look at the impact of fracking,” she said referring to former Gov. Susana Martinez.<span id="more-674918"></span></p> <p>Beth Wojahn, a spokeswoman for the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, which has primary responsibility for oversight of the oil and gas industry, said her department is reviewing the proposed legislation.</p> <p>Fracking has been a source of community turmoil in various parts of the state. In the Four Corners region, environmentalists and tribal groups have been pushing back against federal efforts to lease Bureau of Land Management parcels for oil and gas development, saying federal land managers have failed to study how the specific processes used in fracking will impact the sensitive geologic and cultural landscape surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park.</p> <p>And last year, a grassroots protest erupted in Sandoval County, where community organizers said county commissioners had introduced deliberately weak oil and gas development guidelines. The protesters said too little study had been done regarding how seismic activity and a pristine aquifer would be affected by fracking.</p> <p>But Sage, who lives in Farmington, says requests for more scrutiny of oil and gas operations by state and federal regulators have until now fallen on deaf ears. Advocates hope <a href="https://nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?chamber=S&legType=B&legNo=459&year=19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate Bill 459</a> will find a more friendly audience from Democratic lawmakers, particularly with leadership from newly elected Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The governor last week signed an executive order calling for New Mexico to adopt a strategy to combat climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.</p> <p>In addition to preventing the state from issuing any new permits for hydraulic fracturing, the legislation would require the energy and minerals agency to provide an annual report to the governor and legislators detailing the number of permits with active fracking, greenhouse gas “trends,” the status of funding for research to study fracking, and information on any environmental and agricultural impacts from fracking operations.</p> <p>The bill also outlines public health reporting requirements related to fracking on behalf of the state Department of Health and from the Office of the State Engineer on the relationship between fracking and state waters. Further, the bill includes reporting requirements for the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department, and a reporting mandate regarding worker compensation claims related to injuries among workers involved with fracking.</p> <p>The act would expire in 2023.</p> <p>Co-sponsor Sen. Benny Shendo Jr., D-Jemez Pueblo, said, “We have to stand by our representatives, our senators as this goes to committee, as it gets questioned, and ridiculed and probably talked down to because, again, it’s a fight against our economy.”</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Finding clarity about America in the desert</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2019/02/finding-clarity-about-america-in-the-desert/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 01 Feb 2019 19:00:25 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Haussamen Columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Climate change]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=673451</guid> <description><![CDATA[The time I’ve recently spent in the stillness of the desert has given words to a deep grief I’ve long felt.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_673459" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-673459" src="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barrel-cactus-771x578.jpg?x36058" alt="Barrel cactus" width="771" height="578" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barrel-cactus-771x578.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barrel-cactus-336x252.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barrel-cactus-768x576.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barrel-cactus-1170x878.jpg 1170w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barrel-cactus-800x600.jpg 800w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Barrel-cactus.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net</p><p class="wp-caption-text">Barrel cactus in the desert east of Las Cruces.</p></div> <p><strong>COMMENTARY: </strong>I’ve spent lots of time in the desert east of Las Cruces lately, hunting, hiking and exploring. I’ve discovered pristine landscapes surprisingly close to our state’s second-largest city that are rarely touched by people. I found a massive covey of quail. I’ve seen gigantic barrel cactus that are decades old.</p> <p>But in other spots, I’ve come across trash pits. Some people shoot up old televisions, furniture, bottles or other things and leave them. Others dump their household garbage.</p> <p>I recently found a pair of high heels decaying in the sun.</p> <div id="attachment_383420" class="wp-caption module image alignleft" style="max-width: 336px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-383420" src="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Haussamen-Heath-336x252.jpg?x36058" alt="Heath Haussamen" width="336" height="252" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Haussamen-Heath-336x252.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Haussamen-Heath-768x576.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Haussamen-Heath-771x578.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Haussamen-Heath-800x600.jpg 800w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Haussamen-Heath.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Heath Haussamen</p></div> <p>That was on my mind as I read about people <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/why-national-parks-trashed-during-government-shutdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s2">trashing our national parks</span></a> while the federal government was partially shut down. In California, people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/28/joshua-tree-national-park-damage-government-shutdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s2">tore down protected Joshua trees</span></a>. Some folks took off-road vehicles into restricted areas, damaging fragile ecosystems.</p> <p>That attitude — do whatever you want while no one’s watching — is apparently very American.</p> <p>I’d like to think we weren’t always this way — that, for example, the so-called Greatest Generation’s sense of duty and honor, which we are taught in school led them to save the world from the Nazis, points to a sense of community, morality and responsibility that once characterized America. The longer I live, and the more I learn about our history — our genocide <a href="https://www.history.com/news/native-americans-genocide-united-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s2">of people from many Native American cultures</span></a>, for example — the less I’m able to believe this.</p> <p>Regardless, who we are as a society today is clear. We provide <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/27/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-war-tactics-yemen-humanitarian-crisis.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s2">the bombs Saudis use to kill Yemenis</span></a> because we don’t give a damn if Arab children die <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2018/09/20/report-us-bomb-sales-factored-in-us-aid-to-saudis-in-yemen/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s2">as long as our corporations are profiting</span></a>. Only when the world sees <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/world/middleeast/yemen-starvation-amal-hussain.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s2">an image of a starving child near death</span></a>, and journalists <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/17/middleeast/us-saudi-yemen-bus-strike-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s2">connect our bombs to the horror</span></a>, do we act — and then we’re just seeking to protect our fictitious reputation as a shining city on a hill.</p> <p>We help the Kurds in Syria fight the Islamic State until we’re bored. Then <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/world/middleeast/syria-kurds-isis-us.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s2">we abandon them</span></a> to slaughter at the hands of ISIS, and maybe Turkish forces too.</p> <p>We <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/09/business/ins-is-looking-the-other-way-as-illegal-immigrants-fill-jobs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s2">look the other way</span></a> and enable the less-than-legal crossing of millions of people into the United States because their labor makes our food and other things cheaper. When our economy takes a dive, we blame them for working the jobs we wanted them to work. We treat them with cruelty <a href="https://nmpolitics.net/index/2018/06/this-is-a-crime-against-humanity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s2">to discourage others from coming</span></a>.<span id="more-673451"></span></p> <p>We throw away our “friends” when we’re done profiting.</p> <p>We do the same to our planet. We think we’re invincible or can somehow science our way out of the consequences of <a href="https://nmpolitics.net/index/2018/10/climate-report-makes-clear-the-future-is-at-stake-and-we-must-act/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s2">destroying the ecosystem</span></a>. We’ve <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/photos-reveal-plastic-plankton-in-ocean/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span class="s2">trashed</span></a> the ball of rock and water that gives us life.</p> <p>Is it any wonder, then, that people trash the desert near my house, a majestic area that’s home to mule deer, great horned owls, Gambel’s quail, barrel cactus and ocotillo? Is it surprising that, when the authorities aren’t watching, people think it’s cool to tear down Joshua trees that have stood for hundreds of years to clear a path? Or even worse, just to conquer and destroy something ancient and sacred, because who cares anyway?</p> <p>This toxic behavior is a symptom of the disease that plagues our society.</p> <p>Many of us may individually try to act responsibly, but collectively we destroy and dispose without care or caution, though we pretend otherwise. The time I’ve recently spent in the stillness of the desert has illustrated for me what we’ve become. It’s given words to a deep grief I’ve long felt.</p> <p>Folks, this is America. This is us.</p> <p><em><a href="http://www.nmpolitics.net/haussamen/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Heath Haussamen</a> is NMPolitics.net’s editor and publisher. Agree with his opinion? Disagree? NMPolitics.net welcomes your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary <a href="https://www.nmpolitics.net/index/commentary-submissions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</em></p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>NM should create an office of outdoor recreation</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2019/01/nm-should-create-an-office-of-outdoor-recreation/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 31 Jan 2019 14:00:02 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Guest columns]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2019 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Public lands]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=672963</guid> <description><![CDATA[Outdoor recreation is a mostly untapped reservoir of economic potential for New Mexico's economy.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_428480" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-428480" src="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Topp-Hut-Organ-Mountains-771x394.jpg?x36058" alt="Topp Hut" width="771" height="394" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Topp-Hut-Organ-Mountains-771x394.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Topp-Hut-Organ-Mountains-336x172.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Topp-Hut-Organ-Mountains-768x392.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Topp-Hut-Organ-Mountains.jpg 912w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net</p><p class="wp-caption-text">The historic Topp Hut structure in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.</p></div> <p><strong>COMMENTARY: </strong><span class="s1">Outdoor recreation activities and associated expenditures by people engaging in leisure time activities remain a mostly untapped reservoir of economic potential for New Mexico’s economy.</span></p> <p><span class="s1">We are continuously challenged to find new revenue streams to pay for education, infrastructure, health care and the myriad demands on state funds. As concerns emerge that protect and preserve our fragile natural resources of air, soil and water while creating a sustainable, valued sector of the New Mexico economy, this initiative can very possibly be a major part of the state’s economic development strategy.</span></p> <p><span class="s1">While a detailed accounting of all private and community-wide benefits and costs associated with expansion of this outdoor recreation sector, which provides more jobs than the oil and gas industry nationwide, is still to be fully developed, by focusing on the outdoor sector the state’s leaders can provide a sustainable addition and even a mode of transition from reliance on the energy extraction industry. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has made clear that she is willing to tackle on all fronts the challenges of low wages, poverty and a renewed commitment to improving educational outcomes in the state. Further development of the outdoor economy can be a component of this strategy.</span><span id="more-672963"></span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Recognizing our varied ecosystems and the unique cultural diversity of the state’s population is of great benefit moving forward. Changing demographics, including an aging population, more racial and ethnic diversity, and increasing urbanization are transforming to an increased demand for outdoor recreation. </span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">According to the experts, the outdoor economy will continue to be a leading economic growth sector in the future. Public land agencies are having a noticeable challenge keeping up with changing needs and interests in the area of outdoor recreation. National parks and monuments are often overcrowded with people demanding new areas in which to participate in outdoor activities. The addition of areas to recreate in New Mexico may be but one of the solutions to the overcrowding and demand on the U.S. National Parks Service, Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management recreation areas.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">To be more precise, a careful analysis by outdoor recreation economists can pinpoint needs, opportunities and challenges, including costs and benefits. Both of New Mexico’s newest national monuments, the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and the Rio Grande Del Norte, have seen significant increases in tourism and a boost to the local and state economies as outdoor economic boosters.</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Under the past State Land Office administration, numerous signs were installed where roads cross the boundaries of state trust lands telling people to keep out. Even land lessees have inappropriately blocked access to public land areas used for recreational activities. Additionally, similar complaints about recreational permits being too time-consuming and difficult to get need to be addressed.</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Regardless of the issue, it will be important for several state offices and our legislature to work together to plan and implement a healthy outdoor economy for New Mexico. </span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s2">A most important factor in growing a state’s economy through outdoor recreation would be the establishment of a state office of outdoor recreation to organize collaborators and market outdoor recreation tourism. </span><span class="s1">Sportsmen and recreationists alike have voiced a desire to have year-round access to all public lands for outdoor activities, especially with new related activities and recreational equipment being introduced.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">And although it is ethical and right for our public lands to be preserved and protected, there are better methods than “no trespassing” signs. A state office of recreation would be key to plan, coordinate and implement strategies to support the growth of a vibrant outdoor economy.</span><span class="s2"> </span></p> <p><em>Nate Cote, PhD, is a former state representative from Organ and a Democrat. Roger Beck, PhD, is a retired economics professor from Southern Illinois University. Agree with their opinion? Disagree? NMPolitics.net welcomes your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary <a href="https://www.nmpolitics.net/index/commentary-submissions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</em><span class="s1"></span></p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Governor adds NM to states supporting Paris climate pact</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2019/01/governor-adds-nm-to-states-supporting-paris-climate-pact/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:26:16 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News and Analysis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2019 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Climate change]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Energy policy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=672882</guid> <description><![CDATA[Lujan Grisham said New Mexico aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at least 45 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_672887" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-672887" src="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Lujan-Grisham-Michelle-1-771x583.jpg?x36058" alt="Michelle Lujan Grisham" width="771" height="583" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Lujan-Grisham-Michelle-1-771x583.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Lujan-Grisham-Michelle-1-336x254.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Lujan-Grisham-Michelle-1-768x581.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Lujan-Grisham-Michelle-1-1170x884.jpg 1170w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Lujan-Grisham-Michelle-1.jpg 1222w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Office of the Governor</p><p class="wp-caption-text">Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, shown here delivering her State of the State Address earlier this month.</p></div> <p>Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed up New Mexico to support the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement on Tuesday.</p> <p>In joining the U.S. Climate Alliance, Lujan Grisham is aligning New Mexico with other states working toward the accord’s goals after President Donald Trump pulled the country out of the international agreement in 2017.</p> <p>Signing an executive order at the state Capitol, Lujan Grisham said New Mexico aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at least 45 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.</p> <aside class="module align-left half type-aside"> <h3>About this article</h3> <p>This article comes from <a href="http://www.santafenewmexican.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Santa Fe New Mexican</a>. NMPolitics.net is paying for the rights to publish articles about the 2019 legislative session from the newspaper. Help us cover the cost by <a href="https://nmpolitics.net/index/donate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">making a donation to NMPolitics.net</a>.</p> </aside> <p>“I will join 19 other governors who are clear about making sure we do something about climate change irrespective of the failed policies and lack of science that is going on in our federal government today,” Lujan Grisham said.</p> <p>The order is a start, cheered by environmental groups as affirming a pivot from the policies of her predecessor, former Gov. Susana Martinez. But it is just that — a start.</p> <p>Even Lujan Grisham stressed that a highly anticipated policy on curbing methane emissions is still in its early stages.</p> <p>So, while signaling a very different approach to environmental issues than her predecessor, Lujan Grisham’s executive order also illustrates the scope of the work ahead after two terms of an administration that she said “was not enforcing current law or regulatory requirements.”</p> <p>Moreover, the order comes as New Mexico’s fortunes remain closely tied to oil and the state rides a boom in the Permian Basin that lawmakers are relying upon to increase funding for education as well as a long list of other priorities.</p> <p>Lujan Grisham referred to a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that warned limiting carbon dioxide emissions would require “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.”</p> <p>But she signaled the oil and gas industry is open to working on new policies.</p> <p>“The oil and gas industry is clear where we’re headed. They have a willingness to sit down and talk to us,” she told reporters in a news conference at the Capitol.<span id="more-672882"></span></p> <p>Part of Lujan Grisham’s order directs her administration to work on a policy that will reduce methane emissions from oil and gas production. The order also calls on government officials to help craft laws that would raise the amount of electric power public utilities are required to get from renewable sources.</p> <p>The order launches a Climate Change Task Force that will weigh policies such as creating a market-based program that sets emission limits to reduce greenhouse gas pollution across the state. The task force also will consider updating green building codes and vehicle emission standards, plus include ways the state government can prepare for the effects of climate change.</p> <p>It will put together a New Mexico Climate Strategy with recommendations by Sept. 15.</p> <p>In several ways, the executive order picks up on planning former Gov. Bill Richardson launched during his administration but which mostly went dormant during the Martinez years.</p> <p>“Gov. Lujan Grisham is coming out the gate with meaningful action to save our kids,” said David Coss, chair of the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter. “She is backing serious safeguards to reduce not just carbon pollution but also methane, which should be heating our homes, not leaking and flaring from oil and gas wells.”</p> <p>Some in the oil and gas industry said they were encouraged by Lujan Grisham’s statements that it will have a voice in developing new policies.</p> <p>“It’s encouraging to see the governor is wanting to partner with industry; with organizations, producers and New Mexicans from all walks of life,” said Robert McEntyre, a spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association. “We agree we should reduce methane emissions and we agree we should reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”</p> <p>The tough part likely will be in the details.</p> <p>The future of communities that have been built around oil, gas and coal, however, looms over the legislative session.</p> <p>Lobbyists are locked in intense negotiations over legislation about the future of a power plant in the Four Corners. And some Republican lawmakers have argued the state should not take steps that might dampen an oil boom in the Southeastern part of New Mexico that is buoying the government’s finances.</p> <p>Others argue this only adds to the urgency to reduce the state’s reliance on oil and gas.</p> <p>“We have to be able to keep our economy strong and play the long game,” said Aztec Mayor Victor Snover, who attended the governor’s signing ceremony at the Capitol. “… The transition has already begun.”</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>For Haaland, climate change is ‘worth losing sleep over’</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2019/01/for-haaland-climate-change-is-worth-losing-sleep-over/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 23 Jan 2019 11:57:09 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News and Analysis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Climate change]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Deb Haaland]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Washington]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=670778</guid> <description><![CDATA[Throughout her campaign, the new Democratic U.S. House member from New Mexico was a vocal proponent of action on climate change. ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_590006" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-590006" src="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Haaland-Deb-771x558.jpg?x36058" alt="Deb Haaland" width="771" height="558" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Haaland-Deb-771x558.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Haaland-Deb-336x243.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Haaland-Deb-768x556.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Haaland-Deb.jpg 1040w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Courtesy photo</p><p class="wp-caption-text">Deb Haaland</p></div> <p>Elected in November to represent New Mexico’s First Congressional District, Rep. Deb Haaland is among the first of two Native women to join the U.S. Congress. Focusing on her background, national magazines and television programs profiled her even before she swooped to victory on Election Day, outpacing her nearest opponent by more than 20 points.</p> <p>After her first week in Congress, we’d agreed to meet at the Albuquerque BioPark’s Botanic Garden to talk about climate change. And on a cold, cloudy morning, we ducked inside the garden’s faux-cave, complete with giant toadstools and plaster footprints of prehistoric creatures. Neither warm, nor particularly quiet, the cave is a uniquely terrible place to conduct an interview. Instead of being ruffled, or appearing put-out, Haaland laughs.</p> <p>It’s the kind of laugh that eliminates any speculation: what Haaland represents to the public has not eclipsed the person she is.</p> <aside class="module align-left half type-aside"> <h3>About this article</h3> <p>This article comes from <a href="http://nmpoliticalreport.com/2019/01/22/for-haaland-climate-change-is-worth-losing-sleep-over/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Mexico Political Report</a>, a nonprofit news organization focused on promoting a greater public understanding of politics and policy in New Mexico.</p> </aside> <p>If you talk to people in the district, many were excited to cast their votes for a Native woman. A member of the Pueblo of Laguna, Haaland explains that tribes are “always the most underrepresented at any table.” When asked how those proud to support a Native candidate can better support all tribal communities in New Mexico, she says Native people want what everyone wants — “a clean environment, a quality public education for their children, their elderly folks taken care of, health care for every citizen.”</p> <p>“Those are all the same things I am fighting for, for every single New Mexican,” she says. “I think if we can just join forces, and we’re strong allies together, we can always make sure that those things are possible for every single person in our state.”</p> <p>Throughout her campaign, Haaland was a vocal proponent of action on climate change. And when U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced last year that the newly Democratic-led House of Representatives would convene a Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, Haaland requested that committee assignment.</p> <p>“I realize that places like Florida, Louisiana, Houston, they will suffer because of the rising sea,” she says. “But climate change is going to affect the Southwest far more than so many other parts of the country.”</p> <p>In the past few years, increasingly urgent reports and models have shown how human-caused climate change is affecting the Earth and will continue to exacerbate everything from sea level rise and aridification, harming the environment, public health and the economy.</p> <p>Scientists have issued reports and warnings for decades. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s science advisory committee warned that by burning fossil fuels, humans were “unwittingly conducting a vast geophysical experiment.” In 1989, NASA scientist James Hansen testified before Congress about the dangers of climate change. And yet, repeatedly over the years, when Democrats have held control over Congress they have failed to act on climate change.</p> <p>When asked what will be different this time, Haaland notes that a large number of the newly elected House Democrats campaigned specifically on climate change, and they are passionate about it.<span id="more-670778"></span></p> <p>“The sheer number of us who are going to move the issue forward are present,” she says, careful to note that action on climate change doesn’t mean leaving behind workers in the fossil fuel industry. “I know there are folks who have left the fossil fuel industry to pursue other professions, and it works,” she says. “What separates us from the animals is our ability to reason: Human beings always have opportunities to change gears and do something different.”</p> <p>It’s clear that humans need to do things differently. An <a style="font-size: 19.552px;" href="http://nmpoliticalreport.com/2018/10/10/international-climate-report-warns-of-drastic-irreversible-changes-en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">international report released in October</a> revealed that if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t drastically reduced within the next decade, we will not stop warming that’s expected to have widespread and catastrophic impacts on the Earth’s ecosystems. In November, the Trump administration released the<a style="font-size: 19.552px;" href="http://nmpoliticalreport.com/2018/11/26/black-fridays-climate-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> U.S. Global Change Program assessment</a> showing that climate change is already having economic impacts on the U.S. — and left unaddressed, climate change will deliver a blow to American prosperity.</p> <p>In that peer-reviewed report, which was compiled by 13 federal agencies and more than 300 contributors, the authors noted that, “the assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the past is no longer valid.”</p> <p>“We need to stay on top of this,” says Haaland. Many voices will continue advocating for fossil fuel extraction, especially in a state like New Mexico that has been dependent upon oil and gas revenues for decades. But the signs of that dependency are everywhere, even in the sky — the largest methane anomaly, or “hotspot,” in the northern hemisphere is above the Four Corners, she notes.</p> <p>“I think we need to put people’s lives first, I think we need to put our environment first,” she says. “Everything we have comes from our Earth, and if we don’t take care of it, we can expect to start losing things.”</p> <p>Relocating from the dim cave to one of the BioPark domes housing native plants, Haaland explains why climate change and water are important issues to her. Pueblo people have grown food and nurtured crops in the high desert for centuries: “It’s always been hard, but we’ve done it,” she says.</p> <p>She relates a story about the Hopi Tribe, in Arizona’s high desert. “They would have people who looked out — 24 hours a day, they would take shifts — and they would watch for when the water came down from the snowmelt,” she says. “Because every year, after the snow finally melted and the water would come to their land, every member of the pueblo would come out and with their implements, make sure that the water went down to their fields.”</p> <p>It was a community effort, she says, their “one shot” at collecting water and ensuring it nourished their fields and crops. For pueblo people, water has always been treated as precious.</p> <p>Her ancestors ensured she would have a future here today, she says, and she must have the same diligence, protecting land and water, and keeping traditions alive.</p> <p>“It’s worth losing sleep over, it’s worth getting up in the middle of the night to nurture it so that life can be continued,” she says. “And I’m afraid that too many of us don’t feel that way. … I feel like here in the Southwest, with water being such a precious commodity, we all need to think about, ‘Where does it come from? and, How can we ensure that it continues to flow?’”</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Bill seeks changes to state renewable energy standard</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2019/01/bill-seeks-changes-to-state-renewable-energy-standard/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 22 Jan 2019 14:17:51 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News and Analysis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2019 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Climate change]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Energy policy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=670526</guid> <description><![CDATA[The legislation would increase the renewable-energy standard to require 50 percent renewables by 2030 and 80 percent by 2040.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_670532" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-670532" src="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/5421926_web_turbine-land-771x514.jpg?x36058" alt="Turbines" width="771" height="514" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/5421926_web_turbine-land-771x514.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/5421926_web_turbine-land-336x224.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/5421926_web_turbine-land-768x512.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/5421926_web_turbine-land.jpg 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Sandia National Laboratories</p><p class="wp-caption-text">Turbines at the New Mexico Wind Energy Center, located 170 miles southeast of Albuquerque.</p></div> <p>Ask representatives from New Mexico’s three public utility companies if they’re poised to comply with a state mandate to sell 20 percent renewable energy by 2020, and the answer is likely to be a resounding yes.</p> <p>A deeper dive paints a more complex picture.</p> <p>According to data from the state Public Regulation Commission, which signs off on companies’ renewable plans, all three utilities will come up anywhere between four and eight percentage points short of the oft-publicized milestone.</p> <p>That’s thanks to exemptions and cost caps built into the state Renewable Energy Act, the law that set the 20 percent standard. It partially exempts companies’ largest customers from inclusion in the count, and allows the PRC to waive compliance in the event that procuring renewable energy would result in too high a rate increase for customers.</p> <p>In other words, utility companies can be in compliance with the law in 2020 without renewable energy actually comprising 20 percent of total sales.</p> <aside class="module align-left half type-aside"> <h3>About this article</h3> <p>This article comes from <a href="http://www.santafenewmexican.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Santa Fe New Mexican</a>. NMPolitics.net is paying for the rights to publish articles about the 2019 legislative session from the newspaper. Help us cover the cost by <a href="https://nmpolitics.net/index/donate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">making a donation to NMPolitics.net</a>.</p> </aside> <p>As Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pushes a series of climate-friendly initiatives, a newly introduced Senate bill looks to eliminate those exemptions, simplify and decrease the price cap, and update the renewable-energy standard for decades to come.</p> <p>“We know that we cannot rely on the federal government right now to lead on climate action,” Lujan Grisham said Jan. 15 in her State of the State address. “It is our responsibility and indeed our moral obligation to ensure our planet and our state are preserved for our children and their children.”</p> <p>Lujan Grisham has proposed increasing the renewable-energy standard to require 50 percent renewables by 2030 and 80 percent by 2040 — milestones the bill, <a href="https://nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?Chamber=S&LegType=B&LegNo=275&year=19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Senate Bill 275</a>, sets forth.</p> <p>Taking all three companies’ total projected sales into account, New Mexico’s renewable portfolio in 2020 will hover just below 15 percent.</p> <p>Renewable sources next year will make up 16.1 percent of energy sales for PNM, the state’s largest public energy utility, said John Reynolds, the PRC’s economics bureau chief.</p> <p>El Paso Electric, a public utility company serving Southern New Mexico, will be at 12.6 percent, while Minnesota-based Xcel Energy, which serves customers in Eastern and Southeastern New Mexico, will supply 13.4 percent.</p> <p>Still, a spokesman for Xcel says his company and others often generate additional renewable energy that doesn’t count toward the 20 percent standard.<span id="more-670526"></span></p> <p>Xcel spokesman Wes Reeves said utilities can sell renewable energy without submitting it for compliance. That’s because so-called renewable energy certificates — the tradeable commodities that represent proof of energy generation — cost more if they count toward compliance.</p> <p>Selling renewable energy without submitting it for compliance, he said, allows the company to pass savings on to the customer.</p> <p>PNM’s 16.1 percent figure for 2020 is a 27 percent increase from 2019, when it projects to sell 12.7 percent renewables.</p> <p>The uptick is largely due to the company’s construction of five new solar facilities near Albuquerque that each generate 10 megawatts of power.</p> <p>Pat O’Connell, PNM’s director of renewable resources, said the new sites are made possible by steadily decreasing production costs.</p> <p>“Definitely, renewable energy is cheaper,” he said. “It has plummeted in the past 10 years. … PNM was saying, ‘Hey, let’s wait on solar because we expect it to get cheaper.’ And then that happened.”</p> <p>Those decreasing costs are on the mind of New Mexico legislators as well.</p> <p>As the 2020 deadline looms and climate change poses an ever-intensifying threat, Democratic lawmakers are eager to look ahead.</p> <p>“[The standard] that we have on file right now was passed at a time when renewable energy was not cheaper than other resources,” said Ben Shelton, the legislative and political director for Conservation Voters New Mexico, an environmental advocacy group. “Obviously, that’s not the case anymore.”</p> <p>In 2018, the cost of generating solar and wind power continued to decline nationwide, matching or even besting the cost of conventional energy, according to an industry report by the financial advisory firm Lazard.</p> <p>Though Senate Bill 275 wouldn’t completely eliminate cost caps, Shelton said, it would update them based on recent price trends while requiring companies that receive waivers in any given year to “catch up and catch up quickly” the next year.</p> <p>Shelton said the measure will be Conservation Voters of New Mexico’s No. 1 priority this legislative session — in part because despite its shortcomings, the standard has been “really, really effective in driving the cost down and driving the market.”</p> <p>A PNM plan proposes eliminating reliance on coal and increasing renewable-energy sources to one-third of total sales by 2025, so achieving 50 percent by 2030, O’Connell said, “certainly is doable.”</p> <p>It becomes more difficult, he said, when legislators set their sights on 100 percent.</p> <p>“For me, I organize the goal around how do we reduce carbon emissions to the lowest number possible,” he said. “There have been a lot of studies done in the West where pursuing 100 percent renewable energy doesn’t get you the lowest carbon footprint because you’re having to back up” renewables with conventional energy.</p> <p>Without an efficient storage and transmission system, eliminating conventional energy from the portfolio will be a tough ask, O’Connell said.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Professor warns legislators to get serious on climate change</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2019/01/professor-warns-legislators-to-get-serious-on-climate-change/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 18 Jan 2019 10:12:06 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News and Analysis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2019 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Climate change]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Energy policy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=669173</guid> <description><![CDATA[The member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change painted a stark picture of New Mexico in a changing climate.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_405938" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-405938" src="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Roundhouse-1-771x471.jpg?x36058" alt="Roundhouse" width="771" height="471" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Roundhouse-1-771x471.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Roundhouse-1-336x205.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Roundhouse-1-768x469.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Roundhouse-1-1170x714.jpg 1170w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Roundhouse-1.jpg 1500w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Heath Haussamen / NMPolitics.net</p><p class="wp-caption-text">The Roundhouse in Santa Fe.</p></div> <p>Walk around the Capitol, and much of the talk is about an oil boom that is buoying the state’s finances, providing more money for schools and whatever else.</p> <p>But for an hour on Thursday, a climate scientist urged one committee of legislators to look past all of that.</p> <p>“The world will be moving away from fossil fuel production,” David Gutzler, a professor at the University of New Mexico and member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told members of the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee.</p> <aside class="module align-left half type-aside"> <h3>About this article</h3> <p>This article comes from <a href="http://www.santafenewmexican.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Santa Fe New Mexican</a>. NMPolitics.net is paying for the rights to publish articles about the 2019 legislative session from the newspaper. Help us cover the cost by <a href="https://nmpolitics.net/index/donate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">making a donation to NMPolitics.net</a>.</p> </aside> <p>Gutzler went on to paint a stark picture of New Mexico in a changing climate.</p> <p>The mountains outside Albuquerque will look like the mountains outside El Paso by the end of the century if current trends continue, he said.</p> <p>There will not be any snowpack in the mountains above Santa Fe by the end of the century, Gutzler added.</p> <p>We have already seen more land burned by wildfires, partly because of changes in forest management and partly because of climate change, Gutzler added.</p> <p>Water supply will be negatively affected in what is already an arid state, he said.</p> <p>“It’s real. It’s happening. We see it in the data…. This is not hypothetical in any way. This is real and we would be foolish to ignore it,” Gutzler said.</p> <p>The professor warned lawmakers that the state must get serious about greenhouse gas emissions now by expanding clean energy sources and mitigating the societal costs of moving away from fossil fuels.</p> <p>That cost, though, will be a sticking point for Republicans. Many of them represent Southeastern New Mexico and the Four Corners, where oil and mining are big industries.<span id="more-669173"></span></p> <p>House Minority Leader Jim Townsend, R-Artesia, questioned what one state of just 2 million people can really do to effect a global issue.</p> <p>“What we do within our state would have no impact aside from harming our constituents today,” Townsend said, arguing the issue requires global leadership.</p> <p>Gutzler pointed to coal in countering that the economy is already changing along with the climate.</p> <p>“The policy choice we face here in New Mexico,” he said, “is whether to participate and be a leader in that effort or whether to fall behind.”</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Q&A: New NMED boss brings a commitment ‘to go big on environmental issues’</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2019/01/qa-new-nmed-boss-brings-a-commitment-to-go-big-on-environmental-issues/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 15 Jan 2019 14:00:15 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Q&A]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Climate change]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Energy policy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=667872</guid> <description><![CDATA[James Kenney sat down with New Mexico Political Report to talk about his vision for the state's Environment Department.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_667875" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-667875" src="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/kenney-11-771x605.jpg?x36058" alt="James Kenney" width="771" height="605" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/kenney-11-771x605.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/kenney-11-336x264.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/kenney-11-768x603.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/kenney-11-1170x918.jpg 1170w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/kenney-11.jpg 1177w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">Laura Paskus / New Mexico Political Report</p><p class="wp-caption-text">James Kenney</p></div> <p>Last week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced more executive appointments, including James Kenney as Secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department. The next day, Kenney sat down with <em>NM Political Report</em> to talk about his vision for the agency.</p> <p>Though he hadn’t officially started the job yet, the secretary-designate wanted to set a tone of transparency, which he expects to be “ubiquitous” throughout state agencies under Lujan Grisham. Having a more transparent website and a social media presence, he said, will also help people “feel confident that their environment is healthy, that their community is robust, and … that NMED is out there doing its job, and that we’re proud to implement our mission.”</p> <p>NMED doesn’t exist within a vacuum, he said, and the department will work closely with other state agencies, tribes, communities and nonprofits.</p> <p>“I think being a cabinet secretary means that you use your ears more than your mouth,” Kenney said. “You need to listen and work with communities to make sure that you’re hearing them, and make sure that you’re explaining to them what the science is, what the technical solutions are and what kind of innovations can result from environmental protection.”</p> <aside class="module align-left half type-aside"> <h3>About this article</h3> <p>This article comes from <a href="http://nmpoliticalreport.com/2019/01/10/qa-with-incoming-nmed-head-a-commitment-to-go-big-on-environmental-issues/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Mexico Political Report</a>, a nonprofit news organization focused on promoting a greater public understanding of politics and policy in New Mexico.</p> </aside> <p>Kenney noted that when Lujan Grisham addressed the public during her inauguration speech, she called New Mexico’s environment “our greatest legacy and our greatest resource.”</p> <p>“I think her statements are so akin to what NMED’s mission is,” he said, “and there’s such a commitment from her, through me, and through NMED, to go big on environmental issues.”</p> <p><em>NMPR</em> and Kenney met at the department’s Albuquerque office and spoke for about 40 minutes. What follows is an edited excerpt of that interview.</p> <p><strong>NMPR:</strong> Let’s start with your background: You’re a mystery to a lot of people. You’re not a past [Gov. Bill] Richardson appointee, and you’re coming to state government anew.</p> <p><strong>James Kenney:</strong> I’d been with [the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA] for 20-some years, with a little break in between. I’m an engineer by education, I have a masters in engineering, and worked predominantly in the enforcement programs of EPA throughout my career, moving around the country with different programs.</p> <p>In recent years, during the Obama administration, then-Administrator Gina McCarthy had asked me to work on oil and gas issues, and I developed an expertise in that area, the nexus between energy and environment. As a result of that, I had the opportunity to move to New Mexico and continue on in an oil-and-gas-producing state, being the oil and gas adviser. That happened before the current federal administration took over, and then when they came in, I kept the position. I think I brought a lot of continuity and consistency, [and an] understanding of the technical issues and an understanding of the environment issues, and I think that’s been much-appreciated at EPA.<span id="more-667872"></span></p> <p>Beyond that, I’ve spent a lot of time doing Clean Air Act enforcement, Clean Water Act enforcement, working on [Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, or RCRA] matters [and] working on the chemical industry, beyond oil and gas. I feel as though I’ve been a jack-of-all-trades in the regulatory arena, whether it’s been doing fieldwork or supporting litigation or writing state implementation plans under the Clean Air Act.</p> <p><strong>NMPR:</strong> Can you talk more about where environment and energy intersect?</p> <p><strong>James Kenney:</strong> In the role of a policy adviser, which I performed at EPA, when you’re looking at that nexus of energy and environment, you’re really looking at ‘Where can we make the biggest strides in environmental protection?’ [or] ‘What are the biggest issues that are coming out of the energy sector?’</p> <p>Specific to oil and gas, a lot of folks think about fracking, and the potential contamination of groundwater, and on top of that, also about the produced water that comes out of those wells and how you manage that — [which is] a surface water issue that can lead to groundwater issues. Fracking and produced water can also lead to public drinking water concerns.</p> <p>Beyond the water focus, [there are] air emissions, whether those are [volatile organic compound, or VOC] emissions that lead to ozone or whether those are methane emissions, which collaterally are emitted […and] are climate issues.</p> <p>Those are the areas that I was focused on and will continue to focus on within New Mexico, where you’re looking at the science, the technology, how it affects communities, how it affects public health and you’re trying to balance all that to make the best possible decisions that one can make, that further the vision of the department.</p> <p><strong>NMPR:</strong> You’re still getting up to speed, but what are some of the top issues that NMED is going to have to address right off the bat here in New Mexico?</p> <p><strong>James Kenney:</strong> First and foremost, civil servants, public employees, have a tough time. I think one of the things that is really important to me is making sure that people who are at NMED are valued, are respected, are heard. That we’re moving forward together, we’re listening to each other. That’s a really big issue for me. Having been a public employee, and having at moments felt undervalued, I think we need to really hold those folks up and value that they come to work every day and implement this mission.</p> <p>Beyond that, there are four points I’m going to mention. I’ll start with science. It’s a good word. And we need to rely on science — for regulations, for policies, and for decision-making.</p> <p>Then, innovation. I think it’s interesting that we as a society promote [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM] — and we should — and yet, as we start to roll out the engineering and technical solutions, we sometimes question those. I want to make sure that we in the Environment Department are cutting-edge and that we’re relying on innovation through technology and innovation through engineering to implement good science, to implement good solutions for the environment.</p> <p>Collaboration is the third t. Something I’ve been very successful with at EPA is ensuring that — whether it’s the NGO community or industry, whether [it’s] tribes or academia — that we all get in the room and we all work toward a common goal. I don’t have any romantic ideas that we will always all agree. But I think we can build upon the science, we can build upon the innovation and we can collaborate and we can work toward solutions.</p> <p>The final piece of this is compliance. Without rules and regulations, and without our permits, and ensuring compliance with those, it’s somewhat meaningless. We need to ensure a fair and level playing field — and [ensure] that the folks that we’re trusting with that social license to operate, beyond the physical piece of paper, are actually doing what they say they’re doing.</p> <p>Those four areas are ‘big picture’ for me. Thinking about those, and then thinking about all the things that are at the forefront of NMED, we’re certainly going to move on a methane regulation and addressing climate issues.</p> <p>That’s going to take [the four tenets I mentioned]: We’re going to have to use science, we’re going to have to innovate, we’re going to have to collaborate and we’re going to have to ensure whatever we put in place is enforceable and has a level playing field.</p> <p>I think it’s important to note that not only have I seen this working in other states, it’s working in other states [as a regulatory program or as part of an environmental agency program] while also bringing jobs. I don’t subscribe to [the idea] that there’s a mutual exclusivity here [between environmental protection and the economy]. I think that is old thinking.</p> <p>We also have a number of Superfund sites, we have a number of groundwater permits, we have a number of hazardous waste type permits. I want to ensure that there’s somewhat of a larger system balance, meaning … we don’t want any current operations to become Superfund sites. We want to ensure that those legacy sites are cleaned up, and we want to be sure ultimately that our groundwater and surface water and our land is as [clean] as possible. I want to take a step back and think about that, ‘If we’re having spill after spill after spill, what’s the root cause? Can we change behavior?’ So that we’re not just cleaning up, but that we’re preventing. I’m confident that NMED is already doing that, but I want to take a step back and also think about it as well.</p> <p>We’re a state that has a lot of private industry, and we’re a state that also has a lot of federal installations. We have unique things here, like [the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP], like two national labs, and I want to have the equivalent relationships with those federal installations [as with the industries NMED regulates].</p> <p>And I say ‘installations,’ but I’m also referring to things like federal lands, which aren’t installations, but have a lot of environmental implications in terms of their leasing and mineral rights and things like that.</p> <p><strong>NMPR:</strong> Under the Richardson administration, NMED had been moving forward with studies and rules and programs focused on climate change. I think that <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://nmpoliticalreport.com/356772/up-in-smoke-opportunities-on-climate-renewables-shunned-during-martinez-administration-en/&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjZsZOgiuLfAhUrGDQIHU_FBvUQFggFMAA&client=internal-uds-cse&cx=014459360853321848196:xshjmmhaxm8&usg=AOvVaw2HDdizJuV-mR2VqDGl2Oir" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="those all ended under Gov. Susana Martinez (opens in a new tab)">those all ended under Gov. Susana Martinez</a> in the last eight years. What role does NMED play when it comes to climate change in New Mexico?</p> <p><strong>James Kenney:</strong> The Richardson administration ended… at the end of 2010, so look at the last eight years for example. The science has certainly shifted and changed, it’s gotten better. The innovation, with respect to technology, has gotten much better. We have NASA-JPL imagery of a <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://nmpoliticalreport.com/2017/06/20/new-study-confirms-again-new-mexicos-methane-hot-spot-largely-tied-to-oil-and-gas-pollution/&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwiN-vC0iuLfAhWuHTQIHeAhAe4QFggIMAE&client=internal-uds-cse&cx=014459360853321848196:xshjmmhaxm8&usg=AOvVaw1w1saYI9KYszAlgOu04J16" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="[methane] hotspot (opens in a new tab)">[methane] hotspot </a>in New Mexico. We have data analytics that can predict emissions, [we have climate models]. A lot has changed since that time. I think it merits looking at the investment that the state had made [during the Richardson administration], in thinking about what is still applicable, and marrying that up with what states are doing today, and what technology could allow us to do today.</p> <p><strong>NMPR:</strong> You’re in a different role now, but one of the things EPA and NMED had been working on was a <a href="http://nmpoliticalreport.com/2018/08/10/nm-officials-consider-options-to-reuse-oilfield-water-en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">produced water plan</a>, so I’m curious where that’s at?</p> <p><strong>James Kenney:</strong> With respect to that particular <a href="http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/wastewater/documents/Oil%20and%20Gas%20Produced%20Water%20Goverance%20in%20the%20State%20of%20New%20Mexico%20Draft%20White%20Paper.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="paper (opens in a new tab)">paper</a>, there’s been a serious investment in the treatment of produced water, there’s been a financial, scientific investment [from private industry]. There will be more of it, and I think it makes for good governance for regulators to anticipate what’s coming so that we can be as protective as we need to be, and yet still as competitive as we need to be as a state to bring those technologies in. The effort that the three state agencies and EPA made was merely a collaboration on what the existing rules allow for, and where those existing rules are unclear.</p> <p><strong>NMPR:</strong> Like many state agencies, NMED has been underfunded and understaffed the past few years. [The current vacancy rate at NMED is as high as 18 percent.] Can you talk about that at all?</p> <p><strong>James Kenney:</strong> [Note: Kenney is still being briefed on budget and staffing issues and couldn’t speak to that issue right now.]</p> <p>Public service is a noble profession, and if you want to maintain the best science and the best people, we really need to make NMED and state government a robust place that people want to come in and work. Cuts like that — if we’re down 18 percent or so — really mean people are doing a lot more than when they signed up.</p> <p><strong>NMPR: </strong>Anything else our readers should know right now?</p> <p><strong>James Kenney:</strong> I’m not a native New Mexican, I elected to be here. This is where I want to be, and I want to be here because of the environment, because of the people, because of the culture, because of the red chile. So when I had the opportunity to come on board, to be in the place that I want to be, to be affiliated with a governor who I completely believe in her vision, it was a no-brainer — so I could be ‘all in’ in New Mexico. That to me, is the best part of this job.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Ambitious renewable energy goals on deck as new political era dawns in NM</title> <link>https://nmpolitics.net/index/2019/01/ambitious-renewable-energy-goals-on-deck-as-new-political-era-dawns-in-nm/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Heath Haussamen, NMPolitics.net]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 14 Jan 2019 16:00:49 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[News and Analysis]]></category> <category><![CDATA[2019 legislative session]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Energy policy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Roundhouse]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://nmpolitics.net/index/?p=667865</guid> <description><![CDATA[Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has ambitious goals for New Mexico's renewable energy future.]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_667869" class="wp-caption module image alignnone" style="max-width: 771px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-667869" src="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/PNM-South-Valley-Solar-Energy-Center-1170x575-771x418.jpg?x36058" alt="PNM's South Valley Solar Energy Center" width="771" height="418" srcset="https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/PNM-South-Valley-Solar-Energy-Center-1170x575-771x418.jpg 771w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/PNM-South-Valley-Solar-Energy-Center-1170x575-336x182.jpg 336w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/PNM-South-Valley-Solar-Energy-Center-1170x575-768x416.jpg 768w, https://nmpolitics.net/index/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/PNM-South-Valley-Solar-Energy-Center-1170x575.jpg 1061w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px" /><p class="wp-media-credit">PNM</p><p class="wp-caption-text">PNM’s South Valley Solar Energy Center, one of 15 solar sites the company has built since 2011.</p></div> <p>New Mexico was in the first wave of states to require gradually increasing amounts of renewable energy such as wind, solar and geothermal to power its electrical grid. Signed into law in 2004, the state’s Renewable Energy Act required private utilities to ensure that 20 percent of the electricity they provide to consumers comes from those sources by 2020.</p> <p>Since then, what was once a novel idea has gone mainstream. Twenty-nine states, the District of Columbia, and three territories have similar laws. More than half have higher goals than 20 percent. And after eight years of pent up desire to continue aggressively scaling up clean energy policies and infrastructure, renewable markets advocates will have a governor in 2019 in sync with their goal of increasing renewable portfolio standards (RPS) targets beyond 20 percent.</p> <p>RPS standards are responsible for a “cost dive” in solar and wind energy production over the past 10 years, says Conservation Voters New Mexico policy director Ben Shelton, and can continue to drive a growth in the market.</p> <p>Roughly half of all growth in renewable electricity generation is due to state RPS requirements, according to an annual report produced by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. And while the role of RPS laws in spurring national growth in the field has fallen over time, in the West they are still central to renewable energy growth, the report states.</p> <aside class="module align-left half type-aside"> <h3>About this article</h3> <p>This article comes from <a href="http://nmindepth.com/2019/01/11/ambitious-renewable-goals-on-deck-as-new-political-era-dawns-in-new-mexico/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Mexico In Depth</a>. Sign up for <a href="http://nmindepth.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=1d2ab093d81b992e50978b363&id=9294743d38" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">their newsletter</a>.</p> </aside> <p>That market growth is essential, Shelton said, for two reasons. The most pressing, he says, is the need to decarbonize electricity to reduce greenhouse gases.</p> <p>“Climate change is coming; it’s crushing New Mexico already,” he said, pointing to stressed water systems throughout the state.</p> <p>And secondly, he said, it can be an important economic driver in the state. With so much wind and solar energy potential in New Mexico, he said, “there are jobs in it.”</p> <p>CVNM pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the 2018 election cycle to influence who would sit on the state’s Public Regulation Commission, which regulates utilities, and who would win races for governor and state land commissioner, two positions that together greenlight new laws, manage state lands, and oversee agencies that regulate energy industries. Their favored candidates in the races for governor and state land office — Michelle Lujan Grisham and Stephanie Garcia Richard, respectively — won in the general election.</p> <p>The goal for an increase in New Mexico’s RPS touted by advocates mirrors Lujan Grisham’s campaign platform for electricity powered by renewables: 50 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2040.</p> <p>That the governor means business became crystal clear when she appointed Sarah Cottrell Propst as her secretary of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. Propst was an adviser to Gov. Bill Richardson on energy and environment issues and deputy secretary of the state Environment Department in 2010. Before her appointment by Lujan Grisham, she was executive director of Interwest Energy Alliance, a trade association for the renewable energy industry focused on expanding markets in the West. In her role at Interwest, Propst advocated for an increase in New Mexico’s RPS.<span id="more-667865"></span></p> <p>Announcing the appointment in December, Lujan Grisham said there was “no one better” than Propst “to make sure that New Mexico, in fact, becomes the clean energy state.”</p> <p>Like Shelton, Propst said the primary goal of an increase in renewables is twofold, to protect the environment by removing polluting energy sources and to diversify the economy in New Mexico.</p> <p>The evolution of the renewables industry over the past decade signals that renewable energy is a growth industry, she said in an interview, but because of the pace of change it’s daunting to predict where the industry will be in 10 years.</p> <p>“Costs have gone down between 60 and 70 percent for wind and solar technologies … faster than anybody anticipated back in 2007 when we were negotiating the last round of RPS increases,” she said. “So we know that this technology and cost will not stay the same for renewables or energy storage. History shows us it’s good to be ambitious, it’s good to be bold.”</p> <p>Renewable energy advocates, including the governor, will benefit from November’s blue wave that swept a significant Democratic majority into the state House. Just four years ago a brief but historic Republican majority in the House voted to do away with the renewable portfolio standard. There are still conservative voices in the House and the Senate, both Democrat and Republican, who can be expected to approach proposed new renewable targets with skepticism.</p> <p>Then there’s the largest industrial utility in the state, Public Service Company of New Mexico, which provides electricity to 500,000 households. PNM is retiring its coal-fired San Juan Generating Station and focused on increasing what it terms emissions-free energy. Renewables are an important part of the company’s plans.</p> <p>“It’s a standard feature of a modern power supply system,” said Pat O’Connell, PNM’s director of planning and resources, who said he expected a bill this session that creates higher targets.</p> <p>“Growing the RPS makes sense. I expect that to happen. How far do we want to go and how soon do we want to get there are the questions,” he said, noting that the company plans to have reached 25 percent in renewables by 2023.</p> <p>O’Connell said 80 percent is a “big target,” and lawmakers should think about what their goal is. When the RPS was first created, he said, the goal was to incentivize the growth of renewables, which has successfully happened.</p> <p>“Wind is cheaper, solar is cheaper, that’s why absent an RPS, renewable energy will continue to grow,” he said. “So the incentive piece is a success, and the environmental benefit piece of RPS has certainly occurred as renewable energy continues to grow.”</p> <p>PNM Director of Communications Ray Sandoval emphasized that the company isn’t anti-RPS.</p> <p>Policy makers are targeting 80 percent because people think RPS drives up renewables, Sandoval said. “But it causes problems for us in terms of reliability and how you support all of the renewables with the current technology on our system.”</p> <p>O’Connell and Sandoval said the focus of PNM is on decreasing carbon emissions, rather than increasing renewables. The company has <a href="http://www.nmprc.state.nm.us/utilities/renewable-energy.html#recnm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invested in solar and wind farms</a> around the state and has long-term goals that include a 71 percent reduction over 2005 levels in emissions by 2025, and 87 percent by 2040. That would work out to a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions from 7.7 million metric tons in 2005 to .97 million metric tons in 2040.</p> <p>But the company’s emissions-free mix includes roughly 25 percent from the Palo Verde nuclear generating station in Arizona. That percentage won’t grow — all of the emissions-free gains the company projects come from renewables. And nuclear energy doesn’t fit into the clean energy category for advocates or Propst, because of the nuclear waste it generates.</p> <p>“We need to sit down with everybody in a room … the utilities, co-ops, the conservation groups, consumer advocacy groups, the attorney general’s office … and hammer something out that works,” she said. “Some of these utilities are going to have to stretch. They are by their nature conservative and advocates are going to push them and we’ll have to see what makes sense.”</p> <p>Propst takes a pragmatic yet ambitious tone when discussing the future, much like Lujan Grisham often does. The governor wants New Mexico to join the group of states that have set goals for 50 percent or more, Propst said, but wants to be intentional in how to get there. And she wants to work with industry.</p> <p>“We know it’s an even greater shift for our whole system (the 80 percent goal) so we want to be very careful as we move in that direction that we don’t do anything that jeopardizes reliability or increases costs too quickly,” Propst said. “Fifty and eighty are two different goals at two different points in time.”</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss> <!-- Performance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: https://www.boldgrid.com/w3-total-cache/ Object Caching 131/191 objects using Disk Served from: nmpolitics.net @ 2025-03-16 04:08:17 by W3 Total Cache -->