Should Northwest Sandoval County families have weaker oil and gas safeguards than Rio Rancho residents? That’s what is proposed in a draft ordinance being considered by the county.
Several drafts were never made public, but in mid-June a draft oil and gas ordinance was posted on the Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Commission website. The draft divides the county into a “Northwest Energy Development Area” and a “Southeast Development Area.” The ordinance describes the Northwest area as including Counselor, La Jara, Regina, Torreon, Cabezon, La Cueva, San Luis, Gillman and Ponderosa, and different decision-making rules would apply to the two areas.
According to the draft, applications for oil and gas exploration and drilling in the Northwest area would go through only an administrative review ...
Los Alamos, with its own municipally owned utilities, is a member of the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, a not-for-profit consortium for providing comprehensive wholesale electricity to community-owned power systems throughout the Intermountain West. Of the 47 communities, Los Alamos is one of 39 that support a local zero-carbon effort.
Los Alamos already owns a renewable portfolio including hydro and solar but also has shares totalling 46 megawatts in two coal-fired power plants.
Doug Hunter, UAMPS general manager, told attendees of the December county meeting that to accomplish the zero-carbon goal, the common-sense solution is “energy efficiency — save power by discussing with customers why they use electricity, and why we need to remove unneeded kilowatt-hours from the system.” Because ...
Are you furious over some the campaign calls or mailings you’ve been receiving? At the least, we can keep a record. New Mexico In Depth has created a site to collect and analyze campaign messages in the election: Follow the Message.
Please participate in analyzing the language and issues you about this campaign.
Thanks,
Jody Benson, chair
Featured image from New Mexico in Depth.
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Jody Benson,
Pajarito Group Newsletter editor
Many of the Pajarito Group leadership are emigrating or retiring. The Pajarito Group has many projects including: Limiting single-use shopping bags; supporting Los Alamos County’s 2040 carbon-neutral initiative, including persuading Los Alamos to join the UN-sponsored Mayors’ Compact to locally deal with climate change; leading hikes; and following local environmental issues.
What are you are excited about? The leaders decide direction. Become a part of our busy and dynamic team. Change happens when we take action.
Contact Jody Benson by email or 505-662-4782 to volunteer or learn more.
Photo by Mark
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Jody Benson,
Pajarito Group Newsletter editor
We refuse to do it on the national level, but with your help, we can certainly begin right here in Los Alamos. Support the local attempts to mitigate climate change. The Los Alamos Forum will have a series of Forum questions about whether the community wants to continue its already substantial investment in renewable resources as well as mitigation efforts (bike paths, free Atomic City Transit, recycling, gray-water use, hydro power…).
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