City of Albuquerque Ranks Third as Solar City Per Capita

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Press Release from the City of Albuquerque

Big leap forward over the last year, 29 new projects in two years

Albuquerque, N.M – A new study by the Environment New Mexico Research & Policy Center named the City of Albuquerque as #3 of America’s Top Shining Cities with most photovoltaic solar (PV) installed per capita. The results come from the seventh edition of Shining Cities 2020: The Top U.S. Cities for Solar Energy, and is the most comprehensive survey available of installed solar capacity in major U.S. cities.

The City of Albuquerque jumps from the #10 spot on the list in the past year, now placing just behind Honolulu and San Diego. Albuquerque also ranks as #8 in total PV installed with 153.04 MW.

“We have a responsibility to current and future generations to build a cleaner, healthier, and more innovative Albuquerque,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “In just two years, we’ve built 29 new solar sites—a huge leap forward for this community. And we’re not slowing down. By 2022 we’ll be off-setting 80% of our energy use, and we’re building a giant solar farm with PNM, Silver City, and the Jicarilla Apache Nation. We set big goals for sustainability and we’re on track to reach 100% renewable energy by 2030.”

Albuquerque has excellent natural conditions with its sunshine and high elevation to harness solar energy, and the leadership in office to make it happen.

“The Duke City has once again earned the title ‘Solar Star’,” said John Ammondson, State Director with Environment New Mexico Research & Policy Center. “Albuquerque’s leadership on solar has not only provided residents with clean, renewable power, but has also given other cities an excellent example on how to make it happen. Despite the current slowdown in solar development due to COVID-19, the remarkable progress of the past year is worth highlighting.”

The City is working to convert 100% of fleet vehicles to plug-in hybrids, EVs, and alternative fuel vehicles with plans to purchase more than 40 EV and hybrid vehicles to incorporate into the City fleet. The City will have a total of 40 EV charging stations running by early 2021.

“Solar is an area that we continue to excel in,” said Environmental Health Director, Ryan Mast. “In addition to growth of renewable energy production capacity, we’re continuing to make our city more sustainable with energy efficiency projects and increasing electric vehicle adoption.”

Mayor Tim Keller has also expanded sustainability efforts into the private sector, including the introduction of the Mayor’s Energy Challenge, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies American Cities Challenge.

New Mexico Joins Lawsuit Over Federal Rollback of Fuel Efficiency Rules

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New Mexico is among 23 states that sued the Trump administration on Wednesday, May 27, over a decision to roll back a key climate measure requiring automobile manufacturers to meet important fuel efficiency standards. The Trump rollback was finalized this past March, gutting standards that were enacted during the Obama government.  The cities of New York City, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles are joining the legal challenge led by authorities in the 23 states.

“The March rule eliminates the year-over-year improvements expected from the auto industry, slashing standards that require automakers to produce fleets that average nearly 55 mpg by 2025. Instead, the Trump rule would bring that number down to about 40 mpg by 2026, bringing mileage below what automakers have said is possible for them to achieve,” said The Hill newspaper

Other states challenging the Trump government’s move are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, plus the District of Columbia.

According to California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols the administration “used questionable science, faulty logic and ludicrous assumptions to justify what they wanted from the start: to gut and rewrite the single most important air regulation of the past decade.” Read more in Reuters article

Environmental Groups File Own Lawsuit

In a parallel move, 12 environmental organizations filed their own lawsuit against the administration’s decision.  They include Center for Biological Diversity, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Communities for a Better Environment, Conservation Law Foundation, Consumer Federation of America, Environment America, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Law and Policy Center, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), Public Citizen, Inc., Sierra Club and Union of Concerned Scientists.

“The administration’s final rule that rolls back vehicle standards isn’t just an effort to undo the most significant and successful climate policy on the books. It’s also an absolute travesty of a regulatory process,” said Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.  Read more from the Environmental Law & Policy Center.

Resources: 

Talking Points

Letter from Clergy and Faith Leaders

 

 

Protect the Gila River

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Action Request from the Gila Conservation Coalition

The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission (ISC) released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Gila River diversion project (NM Unit) proposed by the NM Central Arizona Project (CAP) Entity.
As joint leads for the NEPA process the BOR and the ISC are taking public comment until June 8 on four diversion/storage action alternatives and the no action alternative.
Tell the Bureau of Reclamation to select the No Action Alternative
It’s well past time to stop wasting NM Unit Funds on the failed Gila diversion planning process and instead direct funding to priority community water projects to meet the needs of everyone in southwest New Mexico.
The proposed New Mexico Unit alternatives do not pass even minimum standards of viability:
  • Financially infeasible – Project water under all alternatives is too expensive for farmers to buy. Even assuming public subsidy for project construction costs, the cost of water per acre-foot likely exceeds farmers’ willingness to pay.
  • Not economically viable – Costs to the economy as a whole for all diversion alternatives are greater than the benefits. None of the action alternatives “maximize public benefits” as required by the Water Resources Development Act, and therefore the no action alternative should be selected.
  • Unfair – The NM Unit Fund should be used to implement priority water projects in southwest New Mexico benefiting 60,000 people, rather than to subsidize water for a handful of irrigators.
  • Harmful to threatened and endangered species and riparian habitat along the Gila and San Francisco rivers – NM Unit diversion alternatives will decrease stream flow and cause disturbance that will adversely affect native vegetation and degrade riparian habitat, impacting threatened and endangered birds, native fish and snakes.
  • Impact historic and cultural properties and human remains – All alternatives will impact many historic and cultural sites, such as small pueblos, pithouse villages, and rock art sites, as well as disturb human remains significant to Tribes.

Take Action: Advocate for the No Action Alternative

Immediate and future water needs in southwest New Mexico can be met cost-effectively by implementing non-diversion alternatives. We can spend the NM Unit Fund (more than $70 million) on priority community water projects that will create a secure water supply for 60,000 people far into the future without building a costly Gila diversion that requires massive ongoing public subsidy to benefit a very few and damages significant cultural resources and ecologically critical riparian habitat.