Rio Grande Chapter

By Mike Weinberg, Chapter Water Chair

We all by now have heard that worldwide shortages of fresh water are expected in the coming decades due to increased demand from an ever-growing global population and anticipated drying of the earth’s climate.

Development of new water supplies and better management of existing sources will be necessary in order to meet the challenges that lie ahead. We can all help by conserving this precious resource.

By Teresa Seamster

Trappers kill thousands of our state’s wild animals each year for recreation and profit. According to last season’s Furbearer Harvest report from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, over a thousand of the following species were killed in traps set throughout New Mexico: gray foxes (1,694), bobcats (1,715), and coyotes (4,609). But these numbers are a fraction of the actual total, which is unknown.

By Mary Katherine Ray

Because of the injustice of the trapping decision, on Sept. 14, Sierra Club, WildEarth Guardians, Born Free USA and Animal Protection of NM held our own hearing, “The People’s Forum on Public Lands Trapping,” attended by over 130 participants. Though they were invited, no trappers, Game commissioners or representatives from N.M. Game and Fish attended.

By Mary Katherine Ray,Chapter Wildlife Chair

In July, the New Mexico State Game Commission made a final decision on trapping rules. After waiting two years for the rules to be opened to review and not having been examined since 2006, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish held the Commission meeting at which the decision was made in Clayton, a tiny town as far from any major population center in New Mexico as the map would allow, limiting public participation. This foretold the action to come.

Flash Mob Seeks End of Coal

Albuquerque – 9/24 -Today more than 100 activists held a flash mob at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds to demand solutions to climate change. With the motto Sol Not Coal on bandanas, signs and flyers, dancers and volunteers created a high-energy spectacle right in front of the State Fair’s natural resource pavilion.

Watch the video

Published on August 12 in the ABQ Journal with the title "Don't Believe PNM Lie: EPA Will Save Lives"

Published on August 14 in the Santa Fe New Mexican with the title "Clean air is healthy for our economy"

By David Van Winkle and Adella Begaye

Labored breathing, coughing, burning lungs. If you’ve done outdoor activity on a hot day with bad air quality, you may know the feeling. For a child with asthma, those high-smog days can bring on suffocating attacks. For someone with respiratory or cardiovascular problems, they can be fatal.

That’s why the recent news is so welcome that one of our region’s biggest air polluters – the San Juan Generating Station – will have to dramatically reduce its emissions. On Friday, Aug. 5, the EPA announced that it will require the nearly 40-year-old coal-burning power plant near Farmington to cut its nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 80 percent.

Published in the ABQ Journal on August 10

by Shrayas Jatkar, Sierra Club; City Councilor Ike Benton and Tammy Fiebelkorn, eSolved.

We strongly oppose the move to scrap Albuquerque's energy-saving building code. The guaranteed outcomes from such a move are greater energy waste, higher monthly utility bills for consumers and increased pollution.

Sierra Club Applauds EPA Action

August 5 - Farmington, NM – The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 6 office today announced its final decision to require the installation of industry-standard pollution controls on the San Juan Generating Station coal-fired power plant near Farmington, New Mexico. The pollution controls will substantially reduce hazardous air pollution from the aging coal-fired power plant, protecting both public health and tourism revenue at nearby National Parks. For years, pollution from the San Juan Generating Station has marred views at National Parks such as the Grand Canyon and Mesa Verde, threatening local economies that depend on tourism revenue from park visitors.

By Chuck Noble / Attorney for Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy. Originally published on Sunday, July 24, 2011 in the Albuquerque Journal

On July 18, PNM filed a document with the Public Regulation Commission called an Integrated Resource Plan. PNM’s Integrated Resource Plan is intended to provide a road map to the company and regulators for what new power plants or other supply- or demand-side resources will need to be acquired to meet customer electric demands until 2030.

In a story dated 7/18/11 on the Huffingtonpost.com , it is reported that in “Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment,” an unbiased report published by Brookings Institute that Albuquerque, NM is the tenth leading American city for the fastest Green Jobs growth.

the following is excerpted from the story:

"# 10. Albuquerque, NM