For Immediate Release: April 18, 2019 Recorded hearing video: House Natural Resources Committee Holds Field Hearing on Protection of Air Quality and Sacred Sites Santa Fe, NM: Members of the Congressional House Natural Resources Committee held a three-day trip in New Mexico from April 13 to 15 to learn more about the negative impacts of oil and gas drilling on sacred sites and air quality, especially in the Greater Chaco region of northwest New Mexico. Over the three days, Natural Resource Committee Chair Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Subcommittee on Energy and Minerals Chair Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, ... Read More

On April 16, American Rivers named the Gila No. 1 on the list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2019. New Mexico’s last free-flowing wild river, the Gila, is threatened by a diversion project that could suck the river dry. The Gila is a prime example of how climate change is impacting our rivers and water supplies and how the decisions we make will impact our communities – for better or worse – for generations to come. It’s why American Rivers is naming the Gila #1 on the list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2019. The proposed diversion simply doesn’t make sense ... Read More

I had high hopes, but I was still surprised by the rush of joy that overwhelmed me today when Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation outlawing coyote-killing contests in New Mexico. No longer can coyote carcasses, including pups, be stacked up for prizes and then dumped like so much trash. No longer will this particular human appetite for group violence be legally tolerated. Decency wins; wildlife wins; New Mexico wins! The governor was under immense pressure from the same forces who have killed this legislation for years. When we asked you to urge the governor to do the right thing, you responded in the greatest numbers of any alert we’ve sent in ... Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, March 22, 2019 Contact: Mona Blaber, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter, monablaber@gmail.com
Stephanie Steinbrecher, Sierra Club Ready for 100, stephanie.steinbrecher@sierraclub.org SANTA FE, NM — On Friday, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the Energy Transition Act (SB489), which sets a mandate of 100% carbon-free energy for the entire state. The bill, introduced in February, was passed by the state legislature last week. The Energy Transition Act will make electricity generation 100 percent carbon-free by 2045 from the state’s investor-owned utilities, and for all rural cooperative utilities by 2050. The law also plans for a just ... Read More

It was a notable - and in a few cases, heartbreaking - legislative session. Celebrate our wins and keep up the good work! ... Read More

On Tuesday March 12, the New Mexico State House passed SB489, the Energy Transition Act, sending this landmark legislation to Gov. Michelle Lujan-Grisham’s office. Nearly 1,000 New Mexico Sierra Club supporters contacted their legislators in support of this life-saving and economy-fueling legislation ... Read More

The annual election for the Club's Board of Directors is now underway. Those eligible to vote in the national Sierra Club election will receive in the mail (or by Internet if you chose the electronic delivery option) your national Sierra Club ballot in early March. This will include information on the candidates and where you can find additional information on the Club's web site ... Read More

It was a busy year for the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club - outings, rallies, politics and environmental issues ... Read More

Holtec International has a controversial plan to store up to 100,000 tons of the nation’s most dangerous nuclear-reactor waste, for as long as 120 years, at a site between Hobbs and Carlsbad. More than 10,000 rail cars of high-level radioactive waste will be dumped on New Mexico if this project is approved. Opponents are concerned about the health, safety, transportation, financial, and environmental-justice aspects of storing high-level radioactive waste that would impact thousands of generations to come ... Read More