My View Kayley Shoup: Legal attack on new rules risks people’s health

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(Excerpt from opinion piece published on Aug. 20 in The New Mexican in Santa Fe)

By Kayley Shoup

New Mexico’s groundbreaking rules to improve air quality by limiting air pollution from the oil and gas industry just took effect this month, and already the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico has launched a legal attack against them.

Make no mistake — this legal wrangling and foot-dragging from this association is not only bad for our air, it also wastes time and money that producers should be using to cut pollution. It is also a direct threat to the health of families in the Permian Basin because it could allow oil and gas operators to walk away from their responsibility to clean up after themselves and reduce the impacts on their workers, neighboring communities and all New Mexicans.

When the American Lung Association’s 2021 State of the Air Report gave failing grades for ozone pollution to New Mexico’s Eddy, Lea and San Juan counties, it was a wake-up call about the need for strong state regulations to tackle air pollution from the oil and gas industry. With the leadership of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the state Environment Department responded by developing nation-leading ozone precursor rules with the input of the oil and gas industry and New Mexicans from across the state. Major operators, including Occidental Petroleum, support the state’s approach, again highlighting how far out of the mainstream the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico is on this issue.

Read full article

Kayley Shoup was born and raised in Carlsbad, where she now works as a community organizer with Citizens Caring for the Future, (an affiliate of New Mexico El Paso Region Interfaith Power & Light).

Sr. Joan Brown’s Op-Ed in Gallup Independent: Love or fear – our choice

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The following piece appeared in the Gallup Independent on the weekend of April 23-24, 2022

Love or fear – our choice

By Sr. Joan Brown, OSF, Executive Director, Interfaith Power and Light New Mexico & El Paso

Special to the Independent

These are rare days. We just finished celebrating Passover on Earth Day, April 22 and we continue the Easter season and also Ramadan. The confluence of these holy days happens only about every 30 years. To add to these holy days we have a convergence with Earth Day and this is Earth Sunday.

What an important time to renew loving commitments to one another for peace and to care for our Common Home. Somedays, however, I feel there is hardly enough energy just to get through the day.

Several weeks ago presented one of those days. Amidst a sick friend, too much work and many demands, we were surprised to get irrigation water. During our dire drought the water was so very precious for our fruit trees and gardens. I was excited and then very disheartened when a problem arose with an underground pipe leading to one area limiting water to a trickle. It became dark and I could not work any longer in the night to address the problem.

Almost in tears with weariness and yet another problem, I walked to the ditch to turn off the water. There, reflected in the water was a growing white moon and stars. I was stunned by the beauty. A sense of well-being flowed through me. It was a holy moment. I just let go of so many burdens.

The beauty of God awaits us in surprising ways in these dark night times. Hope surprises us with the unexpected if our hearts are open a crack. We did get our water problem fixed with some help. But there are always more challenges. The question we are posed in the Christian scripture this week after Easter is whether I am locked in a closed room or am I a channel of love and peace of God in our troubled world.   Read Full Article

NMEPR-IPL, CCFF Among Organizations Supporting State’s New Emissions Rule

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After two and half years of public discussion and consultation, the state of New Mexico adopted  new air quality rules that would eliminate hundreds of millions of pounds of harmful emissions annually from oil and gas operations in the state. The new rule, announced on April 14, will improve air quality for New Mexicans by establishing innovative and actionable regulations to curb the formation of ground-level ozone. Methane is one of the key drivers of climate change. It is a powerful greenhouse gas 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term.

The New Mexico Environment Department will implement the oil and gas air pollution rules the EIB adopted today. The rules require oil and gas operators to inspect all wells for leaks on a frequent basis without exemptions and protect those living closest to development by requiring more frequent inspections to find and fix leaks in proximity to homes and schools. Read Press Release from NMED

Conservation, public health, and community leaders from across New Mexico today applauded the Environmental Improvement Board’s (EIB) preliminary approval of final ozone precursor regulations for oil and gas production and processing. This includes nation-leading rules that address equipment leaks and malfunctions that account for 70% of the industry’s methane emissions problem.

We all have an ethical and moral responsibility to care for our land, water, air and communities, which are sacred gifts. Leadership in New Mexico holds a particular public responsibility to address pollution from oil and gas industries. The Environmental Improvement Board has taken vital action to care for Our Common Home and those who are most vulnerable and whose voices and concerns are often not heard. People of faith are grateful for reforms that cherish life.”  said Joan Brown, osf,  NMEPR-IPL executive director.

“Those of us with well sites in our back yards will benefit from more frequent inspections to find and fix leaks in proximity to homes and schools. Methane leaks, venting and flaring are a daily threat to our health, and New Mexico has created a standard to guide federal agencies in strengthening protections from oil and gas pollution.” said CCFF organizer Kayley Shoup.

The American Lung Association gave New Mexico’s top oil and gas producing counties – Lea, Eddy, and San Juan Counties – an F grade for ozone in its 2021 State of the Air Report. Overburdened communities bear the brunt of oil and gas waste and pollution. That’s why today’s action and the Lujan Grisham administration’s groundbreaking approach to hold the oil and gas industry accountable is so important.” said  Oriana Sandoval of the Center for Civic Policy

“Safeguarding public health is central to the mission of the Environmental Improvement Board, and today it delivered by adopting strong rules that hold the oil and gas industry accountable and protect the long-term health of all New Mexicans Oil and gas operations are a significant source of ozone-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as well as methane emissions from venting, flaring and leaks. Well-site toxins can worsen respiratory diseases and trigger asthma attacks, and smog can also worsen emphysema and impact the cardiovascular system. This well site pollution especially affects the health of children, elders, and communities of color,” said Barbara Webber of Health Action New Mexico

“Too many New Mexico communities are experiencing the serious health impacts of oil and gas pollution. Spills, leaks, venting and flaring are taking a toll on all New Mexicans’ air, water and health, but rural communities, tribal communities, children and the elderly are especially at risk. Navajo communities are located across a patchwork of federal, state and tribal lands where drilling affects public health and climate. The Lujan Grisham administration’s adoption of strict air pollution rules will help protect overburdened communities at the fence lines of oil and gas operations,” said  Joseph Hernandez, NAVA Education Project.