NM House, Senate Members Propose Environmental Rights Initiative

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(January 11, 2020) Santa Fe, NM:  New Mexico leaders are applauding the Joint Resolution pre-filed Monday, January 4, by Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, Senator Bill Soules, and Representative Joanne Ferrary to amend the New Mexico Constitution in order to add enforceable environmental rights.  Senator Mimi Stewart, Senator Harold Pope, Jr, Representative Tara Luján and Representative Andrea Romero are signing on as co-sponsors in support.   The Joint Resolution proposing the amendment was pre-filed by the sponsors on the first day legislators could pre-file their legislative proposals for the 2021 legislative session.

The Joint Resolution proposes amending the state constitution’s Bill of Rights to recognize and protect the rights of all of the people of New Mexico “to a clean and healthy environment, including pure water, clean air, healthy ecosystems, and a stable climate, and to the preservation of the natural, cultural, scenic and healthful qualities of the environment”; to ensure these rights are protected for present and future generations; and to designate all the state’s government officials as trustees of the natural resources of the state constitutionally obligated to “conserve, protect, and maintain” them.  If passed, the new language would replace the language currently found in Article XX Section 21 which environmental leaders believe has failed to provide the enforceable environmental protections its original supporters had intended.

“New Energy Economy expresses sincere gratitude to our true representative leaders like Senators Sedillo Lopez, Soules, Pope, Senator Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, and Representatives Ferrary, Luján and Romero who are championing the Green Amendment, a self-executing provision in our New Mexico Constitution that will provide individuals and communities with the legal right to protect our water, land and air from contamination. The Green Amendment, like other Constitutional Amendments will grant us inalienable rights, and require the preservation and protection of our beloved home for future generations,” said Mariel Nanasi, Executive Director of New Energy Economy.

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Adopting a Green Amendment for NM

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Community Health, Pure Water, Clean Air, Healthy Environment for Present & Future Generations: Adopting a Green Amendment for NM

What is a Green Amendment?

A New Mexico Green Amendment will recognize and protect the human rights of all our people, including future generations, to healthy water, air and environments including the human health and cultural benefits they provide. A Green Amendment added to the bill of rights of the New Mexico constitution will allow us to honor our sacred trust to care for our earth and future generations, and to equitably protect the rights of all people to access and benefit from healthy environments. Since all life is dependent upon clean air, pure water, a stable climate and healthy environments, it is appropriate and just that we would recognize and protect environmental rights as powerfully as we protect other fundamental civil and political rights such as free speech and freedom of religion. The constitutional environmental rights amendment (i.e. the New Mexico Green Amendment) sets guidelines for working toward a cleaner environment and also empowers communities to hold officials accountable to these standards.  Learn More

Making Our Voices Heard at State Hearings on Methane Waste

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We have worked for years to get methane rules to address methane pollution that affects the health and environment in NM. At the start of 2021, we have been offered the opportunity to make our voices heard.

This week, the State Oil Conservation Commission began two weeks of remote online hearings for the proposed rules to reduce methane waste in the oil and gas industry.

Under the state’s proposed rule, oil and gas operators would need to meet a 98% gas capture rate by the end of 2026 under the proposed rule. Some environmental organizations argue that six years is too long of a period to reduce emissions.

Citizens Caring for the Future and New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light have encouraged members and supporters to participate in these hearings and add to these concerns.

“My point is simple. The proposed rule is a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough. Known violators are allowed to continue violating without sufficient restrictions, and exceptions to the rule allow too many loopholes through which toxic emissions may continue to be allowed,” said Rev. David Wilson Rogers of Carlsbad.

“I am so happy to see that you are making changes to help my home be a bit safer, but I feel that it is not enough. I have seen over and over again that oil and gas operators continue to harm us and our environment. Even if they are caught with leaks or spills they continue to operate in the same unsafe manner. I feel this is because there is not enough incentive for them to make diligent efforts to operate safely, said Penny Aucoin, a resident of Otis, N.M., just outside of Carlsbad.

You can find the full comments from Rev. Wilson Rogers and Penny Aucoin on this site. We will be adding other comments as we receive them.

In the meantime, read coverage of the hearings in The Albuquerque Journal, The Carlsbad Current Argus, and The Santa Fe New Mexican. We will also post updated media coverage in the next couple of weeks.