VOTER GUIDE

How Federal Clean Energy Tax Credits Benefit New Mexico

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(The organization Energy Innovation recently ublished individual state modeling showing the economic and health benefits of Inflation Reduction Act clean energy tax credits for all 48 contiguous states. This modeling focuses on the clean energy investment tax credit, production tax credit, and clean vehicle tax credits because of their outsized impact on jobs and the economy. Below is the analysis for New Mexico).

Federal clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are transforming the United States economy, already generating nearly $250 billion in project announcements that could create more than 140,000 new jobs. Prior modeling by Energy Innovation Policy & Technology LLC® showed IRA tax credits are projected to unleash billions in investment by 2030, increasing GDP up to $200 billion and creating up to 1.3 million jobs nationally.

Energy Innovation® used our free and open-source Energy Policy Simulator to study potential state-level benefits on economic growth, jobs, and public health in New Mexico from the IRA. We focus this analysis on clean electricity and clean vehicle tax credits, given the outsized impact of these tax credits on jobs and the economy. This modeling finds these federal clean energy tax credits are projected to lower annual energy costs nearly $79 per household for New Mexico residents in 2030, prevent more than 29 early deaths from pollution through 2050, and cumulatively prevent more than 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide through 2050 compared to the base case – equivalent to the emissions from 28 coal-fired power plants in one year.

Federal Clean Energy Tax Credits Add to GDP and Cut Household

Energy Spending Federal clean energy tax credits will increase clean energy deployment and electric vehicles sales in New Mexico. These investments and their impacts are projected to increase New Mexico’s GDP by $700 million in 2030. Higher clean energy deployment and decreased spending on gasoline are projected to reduce average annual household energy spending by $79 per year in 2030 and a cumulative $2.3 billion through 2050 across all households in New Mexico. Because more clean energy will be deployed with federal clean energy tax credits, New Mexico is projected to gain more than 6,800 jobs in industries like manufacturing, construction, and sales in 2030. 2 www.energyinnovation.org

Federal Clean Energy Tax Credits Are an Investment in Cleaner, Healthier Communities

IRA programs are expected to shift the U.S. energy system, replacing fuel combustion with clean energy. This transition will dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions along with harmful air pollution that causes asthma, respiratory illness, and premature death. Federal clean energy tax credits are projected to prevent 29 premature deaths and 64 asthma attacks in New Mexico through 2050. The shift to clean energy is expected to have a particularly positive impact on the health of communities of color and low-income communities, which are disproportionately affected by vehicle and power plant pollution. Pollution reductions in neighboring states would avoid additional premature deaths and health impacts as well. Avoided Health Impacts in 2030 through 2050 Premature Mortality 4 30 Asthma Attacks 64 493 Nonfatal Heart Attacks 1 7 Hospital Admissions 1 6

Methodology

We identify incremental state clean electricity deployment by comparing two scenarios from modeling by the National Renewable Energy Lab: the Mid-case, nascent techs, current policies scenario and the No IRA, nascent techs, current policies scenario. Comparing these two scenarios reveals the incremental clean electricity deployment from the IRA. We used the incremental clean electricity deployment to develop an IRA policy scenario for each state in the Energy Innovation® Energy Policy Simulator. We estimated clean vehicle tax credit impacts using a a complementary model we developed. We combined the clean vehicle tax credits and clean electricity deployment to create an IRA scenario for New Mexico and compared it against a case without the IRA to find outputs for changes in emissions, health impacts, statewide household savings, GDP, and jobs.

See Energy Innovation’s Analysis for 47 other states

The 2023 Interfaith Power and Light National Conference was wonderful and packed!

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(Clara Sims and Sister Joan Brown, osf, represented Interfaith Power & Light New Mexico and El Paso at national IPL’s annual conference and lobby day in Washington, D.C., earlier this month)

By Clara Sims

Our first full day of programming focused on the conference theme of “Climate Solutions Through Truth, Justice and Reconciliation,” with a Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Training. This training was led by the wonderful leaders of the Spark Mill and Innerwork Center. We spent time sharing our personal experiences and learning together about the many intersecting identities and concerns of IPL and different state affiliates who hold both shared and distinct concerns about pathways to greater racial equity and justice.

In representing New Mexico, we lifted up the need to continue to work closely with our indigenous siblings and partners especially, and we must continue to center how the impacts of colonial legacies and worldviews remain so present in the extractivism and dumping our communities experience as “sacrifice zones.” As a minority majority state we know NM IPL holds unique work in racial justice and reconciliation, and we wholeheartedly affirm the need to move into ever deeper work at state and national levels to reckon with the many ways racial injustice and climate vulnerability powerfully overlap and reinforce one another.

Our day ended with the extraordinary keynote speaker, Jacqui Patterson – Founder and Executive Director of the Chisholm Legacy Project: A Resource Hub for Black Frontline Climate Leadership. Jacqui shared so much wisdom, grit, and inspiration with us – lifting up the voices of many prophetic artists, musicians, and poets in her remarks. The opening poem Jacqui shared, “Hope Isn’t A Vacant Lot,” is worth spending time with especially…

Lobby Day

The next day we got to prep for our lobby days at the Capital with panels on target legislation as well as “best practice tips” from veteran advocates, including our very own Sr. Joan Brown.  Joan acted in a role play about visiting with legislative representatives, displaying *excellent* acting skills in her role. No surprise, when it comes to getting the non-committal staff member of a moderate Iowan congressman to listen to the climate concerns of small family farmers, you know which Kansas-born Sister to call!

Our legislative focus this year at the national IPL level centered on the Farm Bill, Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), and Permitting Reform. For the first time ever the Farm Bill, which is updated every five years, has the potential to include comprehensive climate-conscious  legislation. We are thrilled to report that our New Mexico congressional representatives are championing this legislation and others and were so engaged in our raising of concerns for New Mexico communities, especially for those in southeast and Permian Basin where much more accountability is needed for methane pollution and set-backs from oil and gas wells and so much more. Above all, we offered gratitude to our congresspeople for all their hard work and service and persistence. They recognize how much we are also offering dedication and persistence in our service to New Mexico communities.

The challenges are many and multiplying but there is also such hope in our working together and dreaming of what can still grow in goodness for all.

Joan and I are both grateful to be returning home to keep persisting with you, and, as a parting thought – these words from Rasheena Fountain:

 

“Home is where footprints survive and all life thrives

In my dream, Chicago blues join the songbirds in melodies of hope,
a vision I imagine as skyscraper promises to you, the skies

I wish in new heights, in treetop rebellions the oaks and maples offer
to the children, from our ancestors, for the continuation of breaths
I love beyond white picket fences into avenue streets
I reenvision vacant lots as forests—spaces where we can plant new seed

Home is where footprints survive and all life thrives”

Sister Joan: Acting for the Common Good, Addressing Climate Challenges is not Optional

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On Thursday, March 16, four organizations held a virtual press conference decrying the lack of climate action in the 2023 legislative session and outlining how climate change is already affecting their communities through wildfires, floods, drought, and asthma and other health impacts. Shortly after the press conference, representatives of the organizations gathered at the Roundhouse to deliver a petition with nearly 900 signatures from people across the state calling on the legislature to act, a letter signed by 75 faith leaders calling for climate action, and postcards calling on legislators to act.  Here is the contribution from Sister Joan Brown osf, executive director at New Mexico & El Paso Interfaith Power & Light.

“On behalf of faith leaders across New Mexico, we continue to be very concerned about the lived realities that climate change poses in our state,” said Sister Joan Brown . “We have an ethical and moral responsibility to care for our communities who are suffering and sacred creation and future generations. Acting for the Common Good to address growing climate challenges is NOT OPTIONAL. Our time is one of a spiritual crisis; a moment of conversion and choosing life for the future. We humans have failed in our responsibility as ‘earth keepers’ in caring for Our Common Home. The clock is ticking, communities, those most vulnerable, and Earth are suffering, and our souls call us to act now for change.”

Here comments from representatives of other organizations

“We need climate action as our landscapes must heal from fossil fuel extraction for half a century,” said Wendy Atcitty, Indigenous energy manager at Naeva. “We know the sacredness and relationships of our natural elements, and we can’t waste a moment. Climate resiliency is now.”

“True environmental equity and justice for communities impacted by the climate crisis could help to restore the unbalanced systems of fossil extraction and man-made pollution, and address how the climate crisis has overshadowed generations,” said Ahtza Chavez, executive director at New Mexico Native Vote. “Indigenous people have the traditional knowledge and community power to produce a safe regenerative economy for the future. We as directly impacted communities and earth protectors must be at the forefront of finding solutions and good policy that addresses the needs of our people and of the Earth itself.”

“Families in New Mexico are feeling the impacts of climate change and air pollution on our health and the health of our children,” says Ana Rios, New Mexico State Coordinator for Mom Clean Air Force and Ecomadres. “New Mexico suffers from numerous ongoing impacts of the climate crisis; extreme heat, wildfires, and drought are some of the most noticeable. Our families urgently need climate solutions, and as always, communities of color, indigenous and low-income communities are the most impacted– this time by legislative inaction.”

“The state has made significant progress over the past four years, but the legislature this session failed in establishing statewide climate action,” said Ben Shelton, political & policy director at Conservation Voters New Mexico. “Legislators need to understand that their constituents want meaningful climate action to fully and swiftly meet the climate crisis we are facing in New Mexico. There is a lot of work left to do, but the process leading up to and during this session has revealed a broad and diverse movement that is ready for economy-wide climate action.”

On Tuesday, June 30, Faith in Public Life and Interfaith Power & Light released a voter reflection guide endorsed by prominent national faith groups and religious leaders. The guide, Democracy, Values & the 2020 Election, addresses urgent issues in the election, including voting rights, climate change, systemic racism in the criminal justice system, healthcare and immigration. The guide, which will be distributed across the country for discussion in diverse faith communities, includes topics for reflection and sample questions to ask candidates  Download Full Guide Here

Download Spanish-language version of the guide, Democracia, Valores y las Elecciones de 2020

Issues and Questions

Democracy and Voting Rights (Page 1)

This election is more than a choice between parties and ideologies. An even more fundamental question is at stake: Can we preserve democracy in the face of serious threats to fair elections and fundamental rights?

Questions for Reflection and Candidates

  1. How do you see democratic values at risk today?
  2. How do systemic barriers to voting undermine our most sacred democratic values?
  3. How can your faith community better advocate for stronger voter protections at the state and local level?
  4. As a candidate, what are your specific plans for protecting and strengthening voting rights?

Protecting God’s Creation Climate Justice for our Children and World (Page 2)

As people of faith, we believe that responding to the urgent threat of climate change is essential to caring for God’s creation and loving our neighbors. Human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels for energy, has thrown
nature out of balance, polluted the air, driven thousands of species of God’s creatures to extinction, intensified catastrophic events such as wildfires and hurricanes, and threatened the lives and livelihoods of our most vulnerable brothers, sisters and neighbors around the world. Scientists tell us we have less than a decade to avoid even more catastrophic consequences.

The United States has a unique responsibility to show moral and political leadership:

  • Transitioning our economy away from polluting fossil fuels toward 100% clean energy.
  • Honoring the emissions-reduction commitments our nation made at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris in 2015, and taking additional actions needed to avert catastrophic global warming.
  • Assisting developing nations— who are least responsible for climate change but most impacted by it — in coping with threats such as increased droughts, disease, and sea-level rise by sharing technology and financial support.

Questions for Reflection and Candidates

  1. What does your faith teach about our responsibilities for the Earth and to others? How are they interdependent?
  2. Has your faith community made an effort to cut emissions, save energy, or practice environmental stewardship?
  3. As a candidate, what specific policies do you support to protect God’s Creation and secure a safe climate for our children and future generations?

Loving Our Immigrant Neighbors (Page 4)

Scripture repeatedly makes clear that immigrants must be treated with dignity. Policies that rip children from their parents’ arms, lock people away in inhumane conditions, and ban desperate families from entering the country
should keep us awake at night. As people of faith, we believe that the way we treat our immigrant neighbors is a sign of how we treat God.

Questions for Reflection and Candidates

  1. How can we replace immoral immigration policies that tear families apart and cause trauma with an immigration system that values families and affirms the dignity of allv people?
  2. What can we do to heal the wounds inflicted on immigrant communities by political rhetoric that portrays them as a dangerous “other?”
  3. If there are immigrants in our community who are feeling isolated and under threat, how can we show support and build connections?
  4. As a candidate, what will you do to defend the dignity of all immigrants, and how will you further policies that keep families together?

The Last Shall Be First An Economy of Inclusion (Page 5)

Our economic systems should work for all Americans, not only the wealthiest few. This is a matter of justice and
human dignity. All religious traditions recognize that charity is essential to care for the most vulnerable, but helping our neighbors in poverty also compels us to address its root causes. “Charity is no substitute for justice withheld,” St. Augustine observed centuries ago.

Questions for Reflection and Candidates

  1. What can we do to ensure that all Americans are able to provide for their families and live with security and dignity?
  2. How do we create a just tax system that is fair to all Americans, including working families who are trapped in poverty?
  3. Why does the United States lag behind most developed countries when it comes to providing paid sick leave and paid family leave?
  4. As a candidate, what are your specific plans to ensure workers have living wages and economic security while the coronavirus pandemic continues, as well as for the long term?

More Health Policies in a Time of a Pandemic  (Page 7)

Despite our nation’s stated values of life and equality, the United States is the only industrialized country in the world that does not guarantee its residents universal access to health care. This is a failure of political and moral imagination – especially in a time of pandemic.

Questions for Reflection and Candidates

  1. How can people of faith be most effective in using our stories, congregations and power to advocate for health care reform?
  2. What do you struggle with the most when it comes to our healthcare system?
  3. How has the COVID-19 crisis impacted your community? What policy solutions can keep us all safe and remedy racial and economic inequalities in your community?
  4. As a candidate, what are your specific plans for making sure that quality,
    affordable health care is available for all?

Restorative Racial Justice (Page 9)

Justice and redemption are at the very heart of faith. Restorative justice begins with listening to and empowering communities that have been exploited, excluded and denied equal representation and freedom. The evil ideology of
white supremacy shaped our nation from its founding and continues to impact policies and communities today, especially in the criminal justice system. The killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and so many other Black people, Indigenous people, and other people of color, has provoked a growing, multi-racial moral movement for accountability and systemic reforms for racial justice.

Questions for Reflection and Candidates

  1. How can we dismantle the evil ideology of white supremacy in our culture and political systems?
  2. What can be done to end racial profiling and police violence against people of color?
  3. What steps can be taken to ensure formerly incarcerated people have voting rights and fair access to employment?
  4. As a candidate, what will you do to ensure racial justice is prioritized in the criminal justice system?
  5. How do we build safe communities for everyone, particularly people of color?

Made in the Image of God: Respecting the Dignity of LGBTQ People (Page 11)

All people have inherent dignity because everyone is created in the image of God. Our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender family members, neighbors and co-workers deserve equal rights, and to live without fear or discrimination.

Questions for Reflection and Candidates

  1. How can your faith community more fully support the equal dignity of LGBTQ people in your state and local area?
  2. What are the greatest threats to LGBTQ people in your community and the nation?
  3. As a candidate, what are your specific plans to ensure that LGBTQ people have equal rights and are treated with dignity

The Global Common Good:  We’re All in This Together (Page 12)

What does it mean to love our neighbors as ourselves in a globalized world? The health and future of our country and
communities are interconnected to the health and security of other nations. Our  fates are bound up in what Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., called “an inescapable network of mutuality.”

Questions for Reflection and Candidates

  1. What policies do you think are most important for creating security for your family and community?
  2. What role should the United States play in the world to help build global peace and security?
  3. How can your faith community advocate for policies to create a more peaceful world?
  4. As a candidate, what programs and policies would you prioritize to help build secure communities and a peaceful world?