Join a Briefing on Climate Initiatives in 2022 NM Legislature

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New Mexico El Paso Region Interfaith Power & Light and Citizens Caring for the Future invite you to a briefing on the New Mexico State Legislature, Tuesday, January 25, 5:00 p.m.

Learn how you can use your voice during this legislative session to ensure that New Mexico remains a leader on climate.

The meeting will feature several outstanding guests who will bring us up to date on four different bills moving through the legislature that impact our vulnerable communities and our work on climate.

The public is invited.

Click here to attend the meeting

 

Sponsors Pre-File Green Amendment Resolution in NM Legislature

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The 30 Day session of the New Mexico State Legislature is upon us and we need your help to get the word about the New Mexico Green Amendment. If we can get the Green Amendment through with majority support in each legislative house, the amendment can go to the ballot in 2022 for the people to vote on. We need your help to let the legislators know this is an amendment the people want; and to let them know the people of New Mexico deserve a right to a clean and healthy environment.  Here are some ways to take action

Participate in a Call to Action Webinar on Jan. 11 (Registration Requested)

A Joint Resolution proposing the amendment was pre-filed by the sponsors on Wednesday, January 5, for the 2022 legislative session.   The proposed New Mexico Green Amendment, as it is being called, is receiving strong upfront support with 24 legislators already signing on in support including:  by Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, Representative Joanne Ferrary, Senator Harold Pope, Jr., Senator Bill Soules, Senator Elizabeth “Liz” Stefanics, Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino, Senator Carrie Hamblen, Representative Tara Lujan, Senator Shannon Pinto, Representative Andrea Romero, Representative Karen Bash, Representative Debbie Sarinana, Representative Roger Montoya, Senator Linda Lopez, Representative Patricia Roybal Caballero, Senator Bill Tallman, Senator Jeff Steinborn, Representative Kay Bounkeua, Representative Christine Trujillo, Representative Elizabeth “Liz” Thomson, Representative Gail Chasey, Representative Miguel Garcia, Representative Kristina Ortez, and Senator Roberto “Bobby” J. Gonzales

The Joint Resolution proposes amending the state constitution’s Bill of Rights to recognize and protect the rights of all of the people of New Mexico “to a clean and healthy environment, including water, air, soil, flora, fauna, ecosystems and climate, and to the preservation of the natural, cultural, scenic and healthful qualities of the environment”; to ensure these rights are protected for present and future generations; and to designate all the state’s government officials as trustees of the natural resources of the state constitutionally obligated to “conserve, protect, and maintain” them.

A New Mexico constitutional Green Amendment is a must have for our beloved ‘Land of Enchantment’,” said Terry A. Sloan, Director of Southwest Native Cultures, Albuquerque, New Mexico, a leader in the Green Amendment movement since its inception here in New Mexico and nationally and an ECOSOC accredited member of the United Nations.  Sloan is also a member of the board of directors of New Mexico and El Paso Region Interfaith Power & Light.

Interim Committee Endorses Green Amendment Initiative

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The New Mexico State Legislature’s interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee (comprised of House and Senate members) has voted overwhelmingly (6-1) to bring an initiative on the Green Amendment to the legislative floor during the 2022 session.  The initiative was proposed in the 2021 session, but did not advance.  If passed, the resolution would implement a future public vote to adopt language to uphold environmental rights for all New Mexicans.  The initiative would  that would codify into the State’s Constitution the public’s right to a “healthy environment,” citing ongoing concerns for pollution and climate change.

“Giving the people of New Mexico an opportunity to vote to amend our constitution so as to protect our precious air, land, water, flora and fauna will be a powerful statement from ‘We, the People’ of New Mexico about our priority to preserve our beautiful and environmentally fragile state,  Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, a co-sponsor of the 2021 Green Amendment initiative, said in testimony to the committee. She is not a member of the committee.

Sens. Jeff Steinborn, Nancy Rodriguez and Brenda McKenna, and  Reps. Lee Alcon , Joanne Ferrary and Debra Sariñana voted to endorse the resolution. The lone dissenter was Sen. Christin Chandler, who argued that the initiative could potentially create  legal liability and subsequent financial burdens for state and municipal governments.

Read article in Carlsbad Current-Argus