Report: New Mexico’s largest emitters overlooked in state climate policy

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Through an executive order and state legislation, New Mexico has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent by 2030 and required all utilities to decarbonize their electricity supply by 2045.

In light of these ambitious climate policies, a team of researchers from PSE Healthy Energy and the University of New Mexico analyzed large stationary sources of climate- and health-damaging pollution—including fossil fuel-fired power plants, oil refineries, gas processing plants and compressor stations, manufacturing plants, and landfills—in New Mexico. The report includes a location-based analysis and provides suggestions for maximizing the public health and climate benefits of state policies.

Based on their analysis, the researchers found that:

  • Large stationary sources contribute approximately one quarter of New Mexico’s greenhouse gas emissions
  • Large stationary sources are significant contributors of health-damaging air pollutants
  • Oil and gas and electric power sectors are the largest contributors of health-damaging air pollutant emissions among large stationary sources
  • Smaller “large sources” are important contributors of health-damaging pollution
  • Many large stationary sources are located in communities with a high proportion of people of color or low-income households
  • Four areas stand out as regions with clusters of large stationary sources:
    • San Juan Basin: San Juan, Rio Arriba, and McKinley counties include 65 large facilities, 56 of which are in the oil and gas sector. This region has a very high population of Native American residents.
    • Permian Basin: Chaves, Lea, and Eddy are home to 69 facilities, 53 of which are in the oil and gas sector.
    • Albuquerque, Bernalillo, and Sandoval Counties: The metropolitan area has the largest population in the state and contains 15 large stationary sources, including a mine, landfills, manufacturing, an airport, and the university.
    • Las Cruces and Dona Aña County: Nine large stationary sources are situated in this region, and three facilities are located in low-income communities of color in Sunland Park.

Here are more details of the study

Sister Odile Coirer: Texas could benefit from federal methane rule

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Sister Odile Coirier, our field organizer for El Paso and southern New Mexico, had this letter published in the El Paso Times on Jan. 29, 2023. 

As a Franciscan sister in El Paso, I am concerned about the immigration and refugee issue that floods us each day. I also know that some are coming because of food insecurity, which has climate change as a factor, others may be coming because of increasing storms. Right now, the Environmental Protection Agency is having public hearings and asking for comments on national rules to address methane pollution in the oil and gas fields.

It is a moral imperative to care for our common home and work for the dignity of every human being….We know that Texas doesn’t have strong methane rules and could benefit from federal rules.

Methane pollution is more than 80 times stronger than other sources of greenhouse gases that increase climate change disruption. It is also a source of pollution that causes many health concerns adding to the ozone pollution that we and others in West Texas face. It is a moral imperative to care for our common home and work for the dignity of every human being.

We know that Texas doesn’t have strong methane rules and could benefit from federal rules. We need the EPA to pass national rules to address methane pollution, flaring and venting and quickly. The Methane Supplemental Rule proposal is an important step forward to ensure that approved monitoring technologies and data are available to all so that communities and individuals can participate and engage in the Super Emitter Response Program, which is designed to quickly address very large leaks from the oil and gas industry.

Odile Coirier

East Central El Paso

Joan Brown Op-Ed: EPA should ensure methane protections

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(Here is an opinion piece by Sister Joan Brown, osf, executive director of Interfaith Power & Light, New Mexico and El Paso. The piece was published in the Albuquerque Journal, on Sunday, January 29)

EPA should ensure methane protections

Pollutants cause health problems for people who keep the industry prosperous

BY JOAN BROWN ALBUQUERQUE

I’ve been working with families on the front lines of oil and gas production in the Permian Basin for the last 10 years. I’ve experienced first-hand growing concerns about health, quality of life, and environmental pollution.

Methane and other air pollutants from oil and gas drilling cause health conditions for the same people who keep the industry prosperous. That’s why I and many faith leaders in New Mexico joined hundreds of advocates from across the country in public hearings to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to swiftly finalize new protections that reduce methane pollution from oil and gas operations. There’s still time for the EPA to make changes to the rule and for New Mexicans and Texans to speak up for the strongest possible protections.

People of faith have been part of this fight from the start — we have a spiritual, ethical and moral duty to love and care for our neighbors. Right now, our neighbors are being impacted by methane pollution and climate change-fueled droughts and fires. I’ve met families in Jal who are very concerned. They need to work, but are living in fear for their children’s health and safety. Methane has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, making it a highly potent greenhouse gas. Reducing it would help address climate change by mitigating the natural disasters we’re already facing.

The concerns of a young woman I work with stay with me: “I do not know if I will have the strength to face all of the suffering that will result from climate change in my lifetime.” If we don’t act now, the burdens our youth are already bearing — grief, depression and hopelessness — will only worsen. It’s urgent that we strengthen and finalize these EPA rules to keep our young people safe.

While the EPA’s current proposal goes further than the initial draft, there are still a few key issues to address. Low-producing wells — that cause half of all site-level methane emissions in our country — must be checked regularly for leaks, along with wells with equipment, like storage tanks, that are known to malfunction. Currently, monitoring abandoned wells for leaks is not part of the rule, but if incorporated, would have a big impact on cutting methane. These changes will minimize damage to God’s creation and our communities.

New Mexico set a great example for states by eliminating routine venting and flaring, but those practices continue in Texas. Methane pollution from flares in Texas affects New Mexico, making it clear that state-level action isn’t enough. We need protections from the EPA to ensure that states work together to cut methane because we all share a common home. Our communities deserve to be part of this conversation, which can be done with participation in the Super Emitter Response Program that will monitor and address the industry’s largest leaks using public data.

Cutting methane isn’t optional — it’s a moral and ethical obligation that we have to each other, and we can stand together to let the EPA know that we need strong methane protections by submitting public comments before Feb. 13. Together with the EPA, resolute in our faith, we will address methane pollution and hold the oil and gas industry accountable.