VOTER GUIDE

NM-IPL Supports Effort to Build a Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure

/in , , /by

As Congress turns to rebuilding our economy and our infrastructure, we urge you to support policies that will safeguard Creation, address the impacts of climate change on our most vulnerable siblings, and fulfill our moral obligation to leave a habitable world for future generations. Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities, as well as low-income communities, have been hit the hardest by the triple health, economic, and environmental crises we face.

We need to invest with justice, and we call on Congress to meet President Biden’s campaign promise that 40% of all funds spent combating the climate crisis be spent in the environmental justice communities hurt the most by our current polluting economy.

Furthermore, the devastating winter storms of February and the massive wildfires of 2020 demonstrate the urgent need to upgrade our infrastructure, including our electrical grid, power supply, and water infrastructure to withstand extreme weather events that are becoming the new normal. \

The American Jobs Plan is a bold roadmap that will create jobs and tackle environmental injustice and the climate crisis. Interfaith Power & Light is excited to see this proposal, and yet we also know that more is needed.

We call on Congress to take up President Biden’s proposal and strengthen it to be in line with the THRIVE Act, a plan sized to meet the needs of our infrastructure and our climate. Specifically, we are excited to support an infrastructure package that does the following.

  • Modernize the grid and expand clean, renewable energy sources
    •  Sustainable infrastructure makes us better prepared for climate-fueled disastersl. We need to modernize our electrical grid, increasing its climate resiliency and ensuring it is prepared for a future with solar panels on every roof and wind turbines across the country.
    • Clean energy creates jobs and cuts air pollution, a win for both our communities and Creation. Now is the time for a national Clean Energy Standard to get to 100% net-zero climate pollution in electricity by 2035, while also expanding investments in clean energy tax credits for wind power, solar power, and more.
  • Upgrade our water infrastructure to ensure clean, pure water for all
    • Too many communities, especially in low-income urban neighborhoods and in Indigenous communities, don’t have access to clean water. We must invest in lead pipe remediation, as well as programs like the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund that help expand clean water access in rural communities.
  • Electrify transportation and expand public transit
    • Incentivize electric vehicles—from personal vehicles, to school buses, to commercial truck fleets and more. We must invest in battery technology and manufacturing, while also enacting policies that make it easier to buy electric vehicles, build charging infrastructure, and ensure they are affordable to all.
    • Invest in mass transit infrastructure and electrification. Nearly 3 million essential workers depend on safe, reliable public transportation—by extension, we all do. If our transit systems don’t make it through this crisis, it will be a disaster for both our communities and our climate. Congress should provide emergency funding to keep systems running during the crisis as well as longer-term investment aimed at expansion and electrification of existing services.
  • Include the RECLAIM Act (Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More Act – HR 2505)
    • The RECLAIM Act will distribute $1 billion for clean up and economic development in communities with abandoned coal mines. The Abandoned Mine Land (AML) funds are already collected and ready to use to clean up abandoned coal mines and the lands and waters polluted by them. AML restoration will also promote economic diversification, targeting our neighbors in the most economically distressed coal communities across the nation.

States and tribes can use the money to develop strategic mine reclamation projects that are linked to development projects on the reclaimed sites. The RECLAIM Act will assist communities struggling with job loss by diversifying their economies and creating jobs doing mine reclamation across the country.

A Note of Thanks to Sen. Heinrich for Supporting Methane Initiative

/in , , , , /by

“The U.S. Senate has taken a step toward more vigorously regulating climate-warming methane leaks from the oil and gas industry, a move supporters say is key to achieving President Biden’s ambitious climate goals,” Read article,  “Senate Votes To Restore Regulations On Climate-Warming Methane Emissions” (National Public Radio)

“People of faith in New Mexico have been working to address methane pollution in the oil and gas fields for a number of years. We are grateful for the leadership of Senator Heinrich to help pass a rule today in the Senate that will help care for community health and future generations who face climate change to which methane pollution is a major short time contributor. Together we can address health in frontline community injustices of pollution and Care for Our Common Home.” Joan Brown,osf, Executive Director, NM Interfaith Power and Light
 

2021 Legislative Scorecard from Climate Advocates Voces Unidas (CAVU)

/in , , /by

The 2021 New Mexico legislative session concluded Saturday. Legislators passed important policies that bring climate solutions to communities grappling with the worst impacts and more tools for regulators to protect our health from pollution.

Our top priority this session was to support efforts to increase critical funding to our energy, environment departments. Thanks to faithful advocacy by folks like you, a broad coalition of environmental organizations, and committed legislators – we were successful!

There’s more work to be done, but together, we made progress. Read all the details in the coalition’s press release.

Called “revolutionary” during a legislative committee hearing, Sustainable Economy Task Force (SB 112) represents a significant shift in how our state will address economic diversification by focusing efforts on sustainable sources of income and economic growth. In other words, SB 112 is a step off of the “boom and bust” budget roller coaster toward a more sustainable and equitable economy.

Now SB 112 and the rest of the wins on the Legislative Scoreboard are headed to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for her signature and veto. Ensure Governor Lujan Grisham knows you support SB 112 and the other critical bills that the Legislature passed to act on climate and protect our health!

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?