Our New Logo

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NM IPL is so pleased to announce that we are expanding our ministry to connect with the El Paso Region. In the Southern part of our border state there is so much interchange between El Paso Region and Southern NM and our faith communities. Many of our judicatories extend into El Paso and West Texas. We also want to grow the opportunity for faith communities in West Texas to get engaged in health and environmental concerns related to the oil and gas industry and connect with Citizens Caring for the Future which some of our faith leaders are engaged with.
In recognition of our expanded mission, we have created a new logo

‘The Permian Climate Bomb’ 

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Oil Change International, Earthworks, and Center for International Environmental Law are launching the first in a series of installments of a major online report today.

The Permian Climate Bomb is a creative storytelling project developed in collaboration with artists, illustrating the environmental injustice and climate damages caused by barely-regulated oil and gas production in the United States, from New Mexico to the Gulf Coast.  The project aims to break down this multifaceted issue, with the goal of bringing it to the forefront of the fight against the climate crisis.

Part One of this series is launching today with the multimedia Permian Climate Bomb website, and reveals the Permian Basin has grown more than 500% in the past decade — and is still expected to grow aggressively in the coming decade, posing a major risk to President Biden’s and the world’s climate agenda.

The first section of the report is accessible at PermianClimateBomb.org in both English and Spanish, and Parts Two through Six of the series will be released in coming weeks. Please let me know if you have any questions, and thanks in advance for sharing!

 

Testimony on State Methane Rules: Anita Amstutz

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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. This testimony comes from Anita Amstutuz, a memberof the NM-IPL Advisory Board.

I am Rev. Anita Amstutz, speaking from the Mennonite Church tradition, Mountain States Region. I support strong methane rules. 

New Mexico has a methane problem. Oil and gas operations release more than 1.1 million tons of methane each year (That has the same short-term climate impacts as 22 coal-fired power plants or 28 million automobiles.)

 Methane is a powerful climate change pollutant responsible for 25% of the warming we’re experiencing today. Operations release more than 337,500 tons of smog-forming volatile organic compounds as well as toxic air pollutants that affect health, especially most vulnerable children and elderly. In the Land of Enchantment, this is not acceptable. Have we become a sacrifice zone?

Methane pollution is a top tier environmental issue in New Mexico. In 2021, the Colorado College’s bipartisan Conservation in the West survey found that 89% of voters support requirements for companies to update equipment and technologies to address methane and air pollution. 

The time is now. As global temperatures soar and violent, catastrophic fires, storms and other natural disasters increase, we must do our part to curb what is destroying our land, soil, air. 

Please address the following: 

  • Protect those living closest to development by requiring more frequent inspections to find and fix leaks.
  • Ensure strong requirements for operators to control pollution during the completion of an oil or gas well or when they redevelop an existing well.
  • Strengthen requirements to cut pollution from pneumatic controllers that are used in oil and gas production. NMED should require companies to inspect pneumatics for leaks and accelerate the timeline to retrofit equipment with zero-bleed or zero-emission pneumatic controllers.

As a long time beekeeper, I am also aware of the devastating climate changes on the insect world and all wildlife. Please do the right thing now. Future generations are depending on your prudence and wisdom. 

Sincerely,

—

Anita Amstutz

Albuquerque, NM