Alex Renirie, Sierra Club
Organizing Representative, Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign
On April 20th, the Bureau of Land Management will hold its next federal fossil fuel lease sale in Santa Fe at the Courtyard Marriott. On the heels of growing opposition to lease sales across the country where groups are demanding the federal government act to keep fossil fuels in the ground, this is our moment to show that New Mexicans demand an end to the sale of public lands for fracking, mining and drilling!
Some facts:
- Our public land is being given away for oil and gas extraction for as little as $2 an acre.
- New Mexicans already live surrounded by toxic methane pollution.
- The Santa Fe National Forest and Chaco Canyon ...
Allyson Siwik,
Rio Grande Chapter Executive Committee
Gila Resources Information Project Executive Director
New Mexico Copper Corporation wants to re-establish a polymetallic mine and processing facility near Hillsboro.
The Copper Flat Mine is not the answer to Sierra County’s economic woes. Just like Grant County’s copper mines, it will be subject to the boom-and-bust economic cycle caused by volatile global copper prices and will potentially create a huge environmental liability for the public to clean up. Read more about the problems with the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and mine plan here.
The 2,190-acre project would use BLM-managed public land and private property to mine and process copper and molybdenum. The Bureau of Land Management has requested public review and comment on its Draft ...
The film Split Estate maps the struggle of communities across the west as the oil and gas industry moves into their backyards.
After the film, join us for a brief presentation on how to get involved locally to fight oil and gas pollution.
For more information about this film, see the website at http://www.splitestate.com/index.html
Date:Thursday, March 31, 2016
Time: 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM
Presented by: Rio Grande Chapter
Location: UNM Student Union Building, Fiesta Room
More information: Alex Renirie – 505-989-6957 alex.renirie@sierraclub.org
Poster from the Split Estate website.
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On February 22, 2016, the Sierra Club submitted comments related to the Carson National Forest Revision Plan.
Excerpts:
These comments are submitted on behalf of the Northern New Mexico Group of the Rio Grande Chapter of Sierra Club that represents 2,500 members. Nationally, Sierra Club has 2.4 million members.
The Carson National Forest covers close to 1.5 million acres in northern New Mexico, and comprises some of the most biologically diverse lands and most significant watersheds in the state. Preserving water quality and quantity as well as wildlife abundance and diversity is central to our comments.
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The Rio Grande Chapter (Northern Group) has collaborated with the US Forest Service in fulfilling the monitoring, education and outreach components in northern ...
On February 15, 2016, the Sierra Club submitted comments related to the BLM’s proposed Methane Rule. The Methane Rule will clamp down on the loss of natural gas from roughly 100,000 wells on federal and tribal lands.
The Sierra Club applauds Secretary Jewell on this action!
Excerpts of our comments:
The 2,500 members of the Northern New Mexico Group of Sierra Club commend the Bureau of Land Management for the recently proposed Methane Rule. We appreciate the opportunity to comment in support of this long needed revision.
For 30 years under the current rule, methane has been leaked, emitted and flared into the air of northern New Mexico counties to the extent that our region has the largest methane concentration in ...
On December 10, 2015, a coalition of environmental organizations submitted comments on the Santa Fe National Forest Revision Plan, Findings from the Draft Assessment: Twelve Focus Areas and Preliminary Need for Change Statements.
A summary of the comments is below:
The Greater Chaco Coalition supports what the science demands in the worldwide action to reverse the devastating impacts of climate change. Up to 450 billion tons of potential greenhouse gas pollution could be immediately removed from the global pool of potential climate pollution by stopping new federal leasing.
Stopping federal fossil fuel leasing makes economic sense. According to the federal government’s estimates, the burning of publicly owned fossil fuels costs society between $16 billion and $155 billion in climate-related damages per ...
Community groups on Thursday welcomed the Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation to deny an application by troubled Oklahoma corporation SandRidge Energy Inc. to drill an exploratory oil well, but the groups urged the county to adopt a moratorium on all oil and gas extraction until ordinances can be developed to protect community health, air, water and other resources from such operations.
Hundreds of Sandoval County residents turned out to the two committee hearings on the topic, and more than 1,000 signed a petition opposing the special-use permit to drill in an area zoned residential.
“While this is a positive signal that the county commission will reject this ill-advised request, more fracking applications are likely to come, and the ...
Jody Benson,
Pajarito Group Newsletter editor
Congratulations on your victory. In 1980, Pat Dunnigan — who had protected the 89,000 acres of the Valles Caldera Baca location from development and even offered to sell it cheap to the Park Service in the late 1970s (blocked by Congress) — died. His sons held onto the Baca for almost two decades, but in 1998 they met with the ranch investors to discuss building a ski resort with home sites, stores, and a racetrack.
Local Sierran Jennifer Johnson was paying attention. She organized the volunteer effort to lobby our senators and representatives to save the Valle Grande. These volunteers spent months handing out postcards at every pullout in the Caldera and ensured ...
