Article Illustrates Plight of Residents of ‘Waste Zone’ in Permian Basin

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An article in the news site Capital and Main on Jan. 28 (reprinted by the New Mexico Political Report) illustrates the challenges facing residents of a stretch of southeastern New Mexico dotted with  dotted with drilling pads and tank batteries that hold and pump oil and natural gas.

“About 129,000 people live amid more than 20,000 wells actively churning out oil and gas in this panthecake-flat stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert. Despite state regulations that require operators to report accidents, what triggered them, and how much oil, gas and water were lost or spilled, it’s not clear operators always file those reports,” said the article

Here are more excerpts

“Oilfield work is inherently dangerous. Extraction, heavy construction and transportation all play integral parts in the oil and gas industry, and all rank among the country’s most dangerous jobs according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In March 2020, two men were electrocuted and died while working with a forklift in the rain on a pad site south of Malaga. COG, a subsidiary of Concho Resources – which was recently purchased by ConocoPhillips for $13.3 billion – operates the site.

But the dangers don’t end at the edge of the drilling pad.

Throughout the Permian Basin, there are many families like the Gonzaleses, whose homes and ranches are surrounded by drilling operations. Sometimes the pipes carrying gas and oil and contaminated water run right through people’s yards.”

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Maya K. von Rossum Speaks about Green Amendment on Local Podcast

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On Thursday, Jan. 28, Maya von Rossum, founder of the Green Amendment for the Generations, was the featured guest on the Richard Eads Show podcast.  Listen to the 23-minute segment

Legislators from Albuquerque and Las Cruces have brought the measure to the New Mexico State Legislature.  Senate Joint Resolution 3 (SJR3) was introduced in the New Mexico Senate. The sponsors are Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, Sen. Bill Soules, Sen. Harold Pope and Rep. Joanne Ferrary. The measure, which seeks to protect the environmental rights of the residents of New Mexico, was referred to the Senate Rules Committee.

A JOINT RESOLUTION

PROPOSING TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW MEXICO BY ADDING ANEW SECTION OF ARTICLE 2 THAT PROVIDES THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO A CLEAN AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT AND THE RIGHT TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT, AND DIRECTS THE STATE TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL THE PEOPLE AND BY REPEALING THE CURRENT POLLUTION CONTROL PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 20, SECTION21

NM-IPL Board Member: Protecting Mother Earth and her inhabitants should be an administration priority for Biden

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Terry Sloan,  a member of the New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light board of directors, wrote a piece for the National Catholic Reporter relating how a new presidential administration would help improve the situation for Native/Indigenous communities in the U.S.  Mr. Sloan is a Navajo and Hopi Native American from Tuba City, AZ. He has extensive experience with Tribal governments and non-profit organizations, governments, economic development and is the current supervising/manager senior accountant with Sloan & Company.  Below are excerpts of the NCR article published on Jan. 26. 2021.

I am a Native/Indigenous American in a torn United States. It was painful to watch the dismantling of our once great country the last four years. I — we — could do nothing to stop it but attempted to minimize the damage and destruction where we could, as we were powerless, even amongst the powerful.

It was a hard-fought battle for me and my efforts to get Joe Biden elected 46th president of the United States. I am that rarity, a Catholic Native American…I can now breathe, relax and have faith again in our government.

I was ecstatic to see Biden sign the United States back on to the Paris Agreement on climate change. The Paris Agreement is an accord within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, addressing the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, along with adaptation and finance.

Native Americans are affected by climate change differently, depending on their location. In the arid Southwestern U.S., we continue to be faced with drought, which affects our water supply, our food supply, our agriculture and even our access to livestock and animals for hunting. We need running rivers; we need our lakes and aquifers restored. Climate change is affecting these things by changing weather patterns, which in turn change the migration of animals and fish on which northern tribes depend to provide food for their families.

From a Native American rights perspective, I ask that our rights be once again honored and respected. Many of our rights have been trampled on, disrespected and violated, our lands exploited, our needs and wishes ignored and or shelved.

The implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) must restart. In September 2014, at the U.N. World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, the General Assembly mandated that all member states begin implementation of the declaration.

Read full article in NCR