Sister Joan Talks About Need for a ‘Just Transition’ in Permian Basin

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An article in the National Catholic Reporter’s Global Sisters Report quotes several Catholic Sisters around the world, including Joan Brown, osf, executive director of New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light.  She talks about the major challenge in places like the Permian Basin in New Mexico.

Brown said the Permian Basin is “a climate bomb right now. It’s one of the highest-producing oil and gas regions in the world, so there’s a lot of pollution.”

There are concrete concerns to consider, too: More than a third of tax income for the state’s schools come from the oil and gas industry, Brown said.

“That’s something I don’t think that is often thought of is the implications that trickle down in all kinds of ways. It’s not just the worker; it’s the grocery shop person, it’s the education, it’s the school district,” she said. “Communities really need to be engaged in that.”

“The communities there feel that they’re a sacrificed zone and are continually a sacrificed zone,” Brown said. “They’re suffering from pollution now. Everybody else is using their energy. And yet with this transition, where are the jobs going to come from?”

The full article, entitled “In the face of catastrophic climate change, sisters join call for a just transition.” also contains great insights from other Catholic Sisters around the World.

Op-Ed: Fix Oil & Gas Leasing System

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Here is an excerpt of an opinion piece that James Jimenez,  executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, wrote in the (Santa Fe) New Mexican.

In New Mexico, we have lived through many boom-and-bust cycles of the oil and gas industry. But recent years have shown just how much we need to break this cycle — particularly as we plan for the transition from oil and gas to clean energy — by tipping the scales away from the oil and gas corporations and back toward New Mexicans who have shouldered the consequences. That’s especially true for our state’s children, whose school funding is too dependent on the vagaries of international oil and gas markets.

Thankfully, this could all be changed, but it will require a commitment from the Biden administration to fixing the federal government’s out-of-date oil and gas leasing system and putting our communities before oil and gas CEOs.  Read full article

 

Testimony on State Methane Rules: Marlene Perrotte

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Members and supporters of New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light have prepared testimony for hearings held by the Environmental Improvement Board. The hearings, held the week of Sept. 20-24, are in support of the The New Mexico Environment Department’s (NMED) strong proposal to cut ozone-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and methane released by the oil and gas industry. Here are the comments from Marlene Perotte, a Sister of Mercy and member of New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light

Dear Members of the Environmental Improvement Board, 

I am _Marlene Perrotte, a Sister of Mercy and member of NM Interfaith Power and Light. I am writing today to encourage the EIB to vote to support and strengthen the New Mexico Environment Department’s draft rule to address Ozone Precursor Pollutants from oil and gas operations. These are ethical issues that demands protection of the Common Good.

  • Oil and gas operations also release hazardous air pollutants such as benzene that is proven to cause cancer, putting those living closest to oil and gas operations at the greatest risk. More than 130,000 New Mexicans live within a half-mile of oil and gas development.
  • New Mexico is home to some of the worst methane pollution in the county. New Mexico is home to two energy-producing regions that are among the nation’s most-polluted. Eddy, Lea, San Juan, Rio Arriba and Chavez Counties – the five New Mexico counties home to 97 percent of the state’s oil and gas wells – are all at risk of violating federal ozone standards of 70 parts per billion. 
  • More methane pollution means accelerated climate change and an uncertain future for New Mexico’s children. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in the near term. In fact, methane pollution contributes to about 25 percent of the global warming we are experiencing today.

This rule is critical for protecting both our health and climate by reducing smog-forming volatile organic compounds as well as methane – a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for 25 percent of the climate change we are experiencing today. 

While the Environment Department has put forward a strong proposal, more work needs to be done to protect communities and address major pollution sources to meet Gov. Lujan Grisham’s goal of nation-leading rules to cut pollution. It is critical to include adequate funding for inspection, implementation of violations corrections and fines.

Please adopt a strong final rule that protects communities and addresses major sources of air and climate pollution.

Thank you,

Sr. Marlene Perrotte