VOTER GUIDE

Testimony on State Methane Rules: Kayley Shoup

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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. The first comment is from Kayley Shoup, an organizer for NM-IPL affiliate Citizens Caring for the Future.

Hello my name is Kayley Shoup and I am an organizer with Citizens Caring for the Future in Carlsbad, and today I will be sharing why as a frontline community member in the Permian I strongly support the proposed methane and ozone rules. For years I believed, like many in my community still do, that regulatory agencies were doing their best to protect frontline communities like mine. As everyday I was learning of more young people being diagnosed with cancer, I continued to believe that we were being protected, that the pollution couldn’t be that bad, and that maybe I was just someone that was trying to find a reason as to why I was surrounded by so much tragedy.

Over the past year I have learned that all of those beliefs were false. Those of us in frontline communities actually aren’t being protected. I now know that the state does not have one air monitor that tracks methane or VOC pollution in the Permian Basin. I now know after being out in the field that the pollution is that bad and it is constant, and I also understand that two years ago I wasn’t just a girl trying to find meaning in seeing her loved ones ravaged by cancer but a girl that was starting to realize the danger that surrounded her.

Because of the abysmal lack of enforcement in the Permian we must have stronger rules such as those being proposed today. Rules that require things like frequent inspections, especially at sites near schools and neighborhoods. Rules that can be realistically enforced, such as I believe these rules can be. They are currently our only line of defense against methane and VOC pollution. I’m not sure how the Governor or NMED plans to slash methane pollution that they aren’t properly monitoring, but I do believe these rules are a start. As a community member in the region of the state that contributes the most to the New Mexico State Budget, I believe the least the state can do is implement the proposed rules. When we prioritize the needs of the communities most affected by methane and VOC pollution first and foremost. When we work to prioritize the health and lives of those human beings in frontline communities. When we value doing what is right and not just politically simple. We set off a ripple that becomes a wave, and THAT wave makes real and meaningful change. Thank you for your time.

Make Your Voice Heard on Methane in New Mexico

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With a few key additions NMED Air Quality Rules can lead the nation Methane Matters.org urges you to make your voices heard ! Oil and gas operations in New Mexico […]

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Urging Sen. Ben Ray Lujan to Support Climate Infrastructure Package

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Via Ruth Striegel, chair of the NM-IPL Advocacy Committee

Members of NM Interfaith Power and Light met with Levi Patterson of Senator Ben Ray Luján’s office on August 18, 2021 to discuss the climate infrastructure package currently before Congress. We greatly appreciate Levi sharing his knowledge of the legislation and the reconciliation process! Time is running out for our planet, and we are committed to bold action to transform our climate infrastructure!

A Note from Sister Joan Brown, executive director of NM-IPL:

Dear Levi,
We just wanted to thank you for the meeting today regarding the climate infrastructure package. We appreciated your engaging in dialogue, your well informed responses and openess to our challenging questions and concerns. We do understand climate change legislation that addresses infrastructure must be as strong as possible. While we understand your explanations about what will be in the Clean Energy Payment Program our faith communities are still concerned about nuclear and subsidies for gas, but we do understand the difficulty of getting the bill passed and our IPL’s across the country are working hard. Code red means serious ethical and moral responsibility. Thank you again for your work, and that of the Senator and staff. We will set up a meeting with Lozen to share ideas about water.

Much gratitude and peace,
Sr. Joan

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?