Green Amendment Day: A Panel of Leading Environmental Justice Voices

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A panel of leading environmental justice voices from across the nation joined together on the inaugural Green Amendment Day 2021 (July 13), to push forth an agenda for ending environmental racism and restoring environmental justice through constitutional empowerment.


Our panelists–including NM-IPL board member Terry Sloan and NM State Sen. Antoinette Sedillo–represented different areas where environmental justice intersects: a grassroots leader, a community organizer & advocate, a legislator, a national Green Amendment expert, a Tribal Liaison, and a scientific expert. Hear first hand how they are pursuing true environmental justice with the power of a Green Amendment. Constitutional recognition and protection can elevate the inalienable rights of all people to a clean & healthy environment, and transform our system of laws and government to ensure environmental justice is mandatory, equitable and enforceable.

Featuring:

  • Kerri Evelyn Harris, Community Organizer and Advocate
  • Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, serving New Mexico’s 16th District and lead sponsor of the NM Green Amendment
  • Maya van Rossum, Founder, Green Amendments For The Generations
  • Terry Sloan, Director, Southwest Native Cultures
  • Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Associate Professor, Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health
  • Maria Payan, Senior Regional Representative, Socially Responsible Agriculture Project (SRAP), Sussex Health & Environmental Network (SHEN)

New Mexico Climate Change Task Force Seeks Public Input

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The New Mexico Climate Change Task Force encourages the public to participate in a new survey as the state seeks input to guide our ongoing climate work. Public input is a critical component of our climate strategy as we look to meet our emissions reduction goals, as well as boost the state’s resilience to the effects of climate change.

The work of the Task Force, which is co-chaired by the cabinet secretaries of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) and Environment Department (NMED), continued throughout the pandemic and subgroups were created to explore how to move our current strategies forward and develop new ones.

“Our state is proud of its diverse population, and we want to make sure our work is inclusive of every New Mexican,” said NMED Cabinet Secretary James Kenney. “We are committed to ensuring our climate strategy is an equitable one, and we can’t do that without your voice.”

Accomplishments to date include passage of the Energy Transition Act, new solar market development tax credits for homeowners and businesses, adoption of modern statewide building codes, completion of the Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (RETA) study on transmission corridors for renewable energy, and a statewide natural gas waste reduction rule. More accomplishments and strategies underway are detailed in the Task Force’s annual strategy document.

The survey results will be used to help the Climate Change Task Force prioritize new climate strategies over the next five years. The Task Force, along with a stakeholder advisory group, will review the survey results alongside data on emissions and economic impacts of different strategies. It will also be guided by a set of climate equity principles developed by community leaders and experts from across the state.

“Our work will be most impactful if all New Mexicans are represented in our climate plans,” said EMNRD Cabinet Secretary Sarah Cottrell Propst.

Take the survey

Spanish Version

(Surveys open through July 15, 2021)

KUNM to Feature Stockholm Water Prize Winner on Friday

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On KUNM-AM Radio’s “New Mexico People, Places and Ideas,” Friday, July 2, at 8:00 a.m.

Corrales resident Sandra Postel is the winner of the Stockholm Water Prize, considered the Nobel Prize for water is a special guest on this program on Friday morning. Host Stephen Spitz will begin the discussion with Ms. Postel’s latest book, “Replenish—the Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity“.

Further discussion will include: will there be enough fresh water for the ever growing world population and what is the outlook for New Mexico and the Western United States? All this and much more, with special guest Sandra Postel. Produced with assistance of Tristan Clum and Lynn Schibeci.