Media contact: Antoinette Reyes, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Organizer, antoinette.reyes@sierraclub.org 

New Mexico methane coalition condemns EPA rollback as state moves to strengthen methane protections

NEW MEXICO-— [10/07/26] — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a draft rollback of the 2024 federal Methane Rule, a rule that established new requirements to reduce methane and other harmful air pollution from oil and gas operations.  The New Mexico Methane Table, a coalition of community, tribal, health, and environmental organizations working to cut oil and gas methane pollution, condemned the proposal, calling it a giveaway to polluters that would worsen climate change and air quality and threaten public health in New Mexico, the nation’s second-largest oil-producing state.

The announcement came at today’s New Mexico Oil and Gas Association meeting, a large coalition of groups, led by Sierra Club’s Rio Grande chapter, protested the rollback plan.

The rollback proposal comes as New Mexico moves in the opposite direction. The New Mexico Environment Department has petitioned the state Environmental Improvement Board to adopt a new state Methane Abatement rule (20.2.51 NMAC). A public hearing is scheduled to begin Dec. 1, 2026.  The proposed rule would strengthen the state’s existing methane standards and establish a statewide super-emitter program requiring large methane leaks to be identified and repaired quickly.

In 2022, New Mexico became the third state to establish a comprehensive state-based methane program. While some oil-and gas-producing states have relied primarily on federal standards, New Mexico and other states have adopted their own requirements to reduce methane emissions. The proposed federal rollback could allow states with weaker methane protections to maintain or increase emissions while New Mexico and other states pursue stronger standards.

Methane is a potent climate pollutant, with more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.  Oil and gas operations also release methane alongside other co-pollutants, including volatile organic compounds, carcinogens, and other chemicals that contribute to ozone, soot and other harmful air pollution, which disproportionately affect communities near oil and gas development in New Mexico.

Recent peer-reviewed research has linked elevated levels of ozone and radioactive materials in Loving, a town adjacent to the Permian Basin’s oil and gas operations. Meanwhile, New Mexico recorded tens of thousands of flaring events over the past year, despite state and federal efforts to limit routine flaring. Researchers also tied airborne radiation and ozone spikes in the Permian Basin town of Loving directly to nearby oil and gas operations.

In the San Juan Basin near Chaco Canyon, the inequitable impacts are significant with a large majority of the state’s oil-and-gas-related water contamination and some of its worst methane release plumes concentrated in and around Diné communities.

The low-producing wells the federal rollback would exempt from leak monitoring requirements are a significant source of methane pollution. New analysis using MethaneSAT satellite data finds that low-producing wells account for just 5% of U.S. oil and gas production but roughly 60% of production-related methane emissions. In New Mexico and Texas, low-producing wells make up the majority of oil and gas wells, making the proposed exemption particularly significant for the Permian Basin. Experts have documented significant public health risks associated with pollution from oil and gas operations, including increased risks of premature deaths and childhood asthma.  linked these emissions  to hundreds of premature deaths and tens of thousands of childhood asthma attacks each year.

The 2024 Methane Rule followed extensive public input, including more than 900,000 public comments and input from communities, health, legal experts, investors, environmentalists and industry. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, since theEPA stopped fully enforcing federal oil and gas methane standards, the industry has leaked, vented, or flared over 7 billion worth of natural gas.

The New Mexico Methane Table plans to defend the 2024 federal methane rule during the upcoming public comment period; will participate in the NMED’s December Environmental Improvement Board hearing. The table also plans continue pressing the administration for stronger methane protections, including through meetings with the Office of Management and Budget. Additional quotes from coalition partners are available in the accompanying quote sheet.

PRESS QUOTE SHEET

Antoinette Reyes, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Organizer, said: “New Mexico cannot afford a federal retreat on methane. The 2024 EPA safeguards were designed to do basic, practical things: find leaks, stop routine flaring, catch super-emitter events, and require operators to use cleaner equipment that already exists. Rolling those protections back — including protections for low-producing wells that make up a majority of active wells in both New Mexico and Texas — would create a sweeping industry loophole. Oil and gas pollution is like secondhand smoke from the industry: communities are exposed without consent, and the people closest to the source carry the heaviest burden. With the Permian spanning both Texas and New Mexico, pollution knows no boundaries, which is exactly why New Mexico and other states must codify these methane protections into state law and make them strong enough to withstand political rollbacks in Washington.”

“The weakening of the federal methane rule makes it easier for oil and gas companies to pollute New Mexico’s air. This impacts all New Mexicans who live and work near the industry. It  especially impacts the nearly 150,000 people living within half a mile of oil and gas infrastructure, and the 119 schools and nearly 30,000 students going to school within half a mile of oil and gas sites. It impacts people’s health – children’s health. There is no reason to rollback air pollution rules other than lining the pockets of billionaires at the expense of people. This decision is devastating, yet par for the course for the Trump Administration. New Mexicans are counting on our state government now to protect us from methane super polluters.” Mandy Sackett, New Mexico Lead Campaigner, Earthworks

“In southeastern New Mexico, communities in the Permian Basin are on the frontlines of methane pollution. The Permian Basin emits more methane than any other oil and gas basin in the country, placing nearby communities at increased risk from harmful air pollution while accelerating the climate crisis. Weakening methane protections means asking frontline communities to bear even greater costs. New Mexicans deserve strong safeguards that protect our health, our air, and our future.” Carlos Matutes, New Mexico Program Director, GreenLatinos New Mexico

“These rollbacks are a slap in the face to families who are exposed to methane pollution where they live, work, and play. For over a decade, Moms Clean Air Force has been fighting for protections—and we have made progress in states like New Mexico, but all families deserve clean air. Over 900,000 comments were submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency in support of the commonsense methane pollution protections that EPA finalized in 2024, including many of the moms, dads, and caregivers with Moms Clean Air Force. Now frontline communities must once again show up and demand EPA provide strong federal methane pollution standards that protect Americans from this known public health threat and climate super pollutant. It is outrageous that we have to fight so hard just for our children’s right to breathe clean air.”  Celerah Hewes, Senior Manager of State Field Campaigns, Moms Clean Air Force

“As New Mexico strengthens methane protections, federal rollbacks put our progress, and our kids’ health at risk. Communities near oil and gas production face greater exposure to pollution. New Mexico is doing its part to reduce methane, super-emitter events, and flaring, but we all share the same air. Strong EPA safeguards are essential to protect our children and hold operators accountable.” said Maya Anthony, with NM Voices for Children 

Contact: Camilla Feibelman, camilla.feibleman@sierraclub.org 

Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Responds to Haaland Data Center Announcement

“New Mexico’s progress on curbing climate pollution stands to be erased by massive data centers that emit more greenhouse gases than our largest cities. These facilities also deplete our water resources, harm our quality of life and could massively increase electric bill affordability. We support a moratorium on data centers until serious and enforceable guardrails are in place. Today we were encouraged to see gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland announce that she’d enact a moratorium on her first day, if elected, and support guardrails in the legislature. Our communities shouldn’t have to fight alone to protect themselves. Now that the Supreme Court has allowed Project Jupiter’s Air Pollution Permit process to go forward, this kind of policy is more important than ever.”
— Camilla Feibelman, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter

Paid for by the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter PAC.

“Roadless Rule” Town Halls across New Mexico

Trump’s Forest Service has moved to repeal the Roadless Rule, an essential piece of environmental regulation that protects 45 million acres of pristine land (1.6 million acres in New Mexico) from road construction and the inevitable logging, mining, and extraction that follows. The administration is attempting to suppress public input on this 25 year-old rule with a truncated comment period and no public meetings. So, the Wilderness Society, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, and the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter are holding our own across the state to activate people and collect tens of thousands of comments gathered on sc.org/roadlessrule.

Meeting locations, dates and registration

• Santa Fe – 6 p.m. September 8 @ Tumbleroot Brewery [register]
• Albuquerque – 6 p.m. September 9 @ Barelas Community Center [register]
• Silver City – 5:30 p.m. September 15 @ Besse Forward Global Resource Center, corner of 12th and Kentucky [register]
• Las Cruces – 6 p.m. September 15 @ the WIA Building [register]
• Pecos – 5:30 p.m. September 16 @ the Pecos Municipal Building [register]
• Virtual zoom hearing – 6 p.m. September 16 [register]

Download the flyer
Sign the petition

Contact: Bill Rodgers (he/him)
Communications, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter, (330) 881-9918 | bill.rodgers@sierraclub.org

Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Statement on Gutting of Federal  Roadless Rule

Forests, Water Resources, Communities at Risk as Comment Period Opens

ALBUQUERQUE – On Tuesday U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the U.S. Forest Service had filed a proposed rule to rescind in its entirety the national 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

If the Roadless Area Conservation Rule is repealed, 45 million acres of pristine national forests across the country (1.6 million acres in New Mexico) would be opened up for the first time in more than 20 years to road building and the logging, mining, and extractive industries that come with that. These lands are not only key recreation areas for New Mexicans, but they are the source of clean water for communities around the State.

The filing touches off about one month of public comments. Public comments will be accepted until midnight on Sept. 21 and local organizations will lead town hall hearings throughout the state to be announced in the coming month. Though the Trump administration has demonstrated a willingness to steamroll public land protections, the Roadless Rule remains very popular, with more than 600,000 people voicing their support in comments last year. The New Mexico congressional delegation is in strong support of the rule as well, issuing a letter to the administration in September 2025 to demand New Mexico be exempt from any Roadless repeals.

It is the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter’s goal to demonstrate to this hostile administration and their cronies in extractive industries that New Mexicans will not allow their lands to be given away and despoiled.

“We are asking residents to sign our action alert and add their names to the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who want their lands to remain protected. The Chapter encourages New Mexicans who feel discouraged to remember this regime will not be in power forever, and action today puts us in a better position to work with future administrations whose priorities are in line with the will of the people,”
said Camilla Feibelman, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Director

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:

A comment period was organized to receive public input on the Trump administration’s proposal to revoke the Roadless Rule, a policy enacted in 2001 that protects nearly 60 million acres of national forests across 36 states and Puerto Rico. In June 2025, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the administration’s plan to repeal the rule, which would open these wild landscapes to roads and development. A brief public comment period was held in fall of 2025 and received more than 600,000 comments – 99% of which supported retaining the Roadless Rule.

The two-decade-old rule protects against new roadbuilding and the extractive industries that roads can lead to, such as logging and mining, in backcountry forestlands that have been undisturbed by major development. During the process that resulted in the original 2001 rule, the U.S. Forest Service held more than 600 public meetings over the course of 18 months to help inform the policy.

Roadless forests offer people a wide range of recreational activities, provide wildlife with much-needed habitat and range connectivity, and protect the headwaters of rivers which are vital for maintaining clean drinking water nationwide. Rescinding the Roadless Rule nationally would increase logging and other destructive, extractive development in public forests that currently function as intact ecosystems to benefit wildlife and people alike.

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Read the proposed rule change
Roadless areas web page
Sign the Sierra Club action alert

Stop Trump from Desecrating the Greater Chaco Landscape

Removal of buffer exposes communities and sacred landscapes to oil and gas extraction

SANTA FE — The Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter is joining our Pueblo, Diné, and Tribal neighbors as well as other environmental and community groups in opposing Trump’s plan to expose the Great Chaco Landscape to oil and gas drilling.

“New Mexicans have said over and over again, in no uncertain terms, that our sacred landscapes and public lands must be protected. Chaco means so much to so many: those who originate from these lands, those who have found our homes here, and those who visit.  We will continue to comment and to protest until our call for the protection of the Greater Chaco landscape and its communities are protected.” Diane Reese, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Chair.

Late Wednesday night, Trump’s Bureau of Land Management moved to remove a 10-mile buffer zone that protects the Greater Chaco Region from new oil and gas leasing. This came a day after the administration attempted to slash protections for the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, apparently to also allow for expanded mining and drilling.

Chaco Canyon, whose National Historical Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site, is sacred to Native peoples in the region. The broader ancestral landscape outside of the park boundaries  is already inundated with nearly 40,000 oil and gas wells that threaten land, air, water, sacred places, and public health. The buffer zone is critical to prevent damage to the thousand-year-old Chacoan architecture, as well as harm to the irreplaceable cultural resources throughout the landscape. The buffer zone also offers needed protection to the health and wellbeing of tribal communities in the area.

“The Trump administration’s move devastates cultural heritage and hands tribal and public lands to oil companies harming our irreplaceable history. As we saw in April, the administration is trying to sneak this past with a truncated public-comment period. The administration offered just seven days for scoping in April, bridging the Easter holiday when many people are with their families, but nevertheless New Mexicans and people across the country responded with more than 100,000 comments,” continued Reese.

Our coalition is asking for New Mexico’s help again. Please take a moment to submit a comment  opposing Trump’s “environmental assessment” and tell his administration that these are not his lands to sell out to his cronies in the oil and gas industry. That link is here: Sc.org/chaco. The deadline to comment is midnight, July 29, 2026.

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Contacts:
Tannis Fox, Western Environmental Law Center, 505-629-0732, fox@westernlaw.org
Robyn Jackson, Diné C.A.R.E., 505-862-4433, robyn.jackson@dine-care.org
Andrew Forkes-Gudmundson, Earthworks, 507-421-9021, andrewfg@earthworks.org
Bill Rodgers, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter, 330-881-9918, bill.rodgers@sierraclub.org

New Mexico modernizes oil, gas industry bonding, cleanup rules, now among nation’s strongest

Commission vote ensures corporations pay to clean up wells

Santa Fe, NM – The New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission voted Wednesday to reform outdated oil and gas bonding and cleanup rules, adopting some of the strongest safeguards in the country to prevent orphan wells and ensure oil and gas corporations pay to clean up the wells they drill and operate.

“This decision comes down to the simple idea most New Mexicans agree on: If you drill it, you clean it,” said Tannis Fox, senior attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. “After a thorough, evidence-based process, the Commission acted to protect our water, our communities, and our state budget – ensuring the public isn’t left paying for industry’s messes.”

The Commission’s decision followed months of hearings, expert testimony, legal briefing, and negotiations among parties. In its deliberations, the Commission largely affirmed the legal and evidentiary basis for modernizing New Mexico’s bonding system and adopted most of the reforms included in the parties’ negotiated agreement, including reaffirming that HB80 complements, but does not replace, a modernized bonding system.

Why It Matters

New Mexico faces between $700 million and $1.6 billion in current and near-future oil and gas well cleanup liabilities, according to state data, with nearly 700 wells already abandoned and more than 4,400 likely to be abandoned in the near term.

When wells are not properly plugged, they can leak methane and toxic chemicals into the air and groundwater, threatening the climate, public health, drinking water, agriculture, and nearby communities.

State data show the average cost to plug a well is approximately $163,000, yet outdated rules have allowed operators to post bonds for far less – leaving taxpayers exposed when corporations walk away or go bankrupt.

What the Rules Do

The updated rules:

• Update bonding requirements to $150,000 per well for oil and gas wells at highest risk of abandonment – including low-producing and inactive wells – more closely aligning with the Oil Conservation Division’s actual plugging costs.
• Require operators with high-risk portfolios – more than 20% inactive wells – to post single-well bonding of $150,000 for all their wells, reducing the risk that large portfolios of aging wells are left without adequate cleanup funds.
• Strengthen well transfer rules to prevent poorly funded or noncompliant operators from acquiring aging wells – a common pathway to well abandonment.
• Require the most marginal wells (producing fewer than 90 barrels of oil equivalent in 12 months) to demonstrate they still serve a useful purpose or properly plug them.
• Tighten rules for inactive wells by requiring operators to show wells will return to production in the future, preventing non-producing wells from lingering indefinitely without cleanup.

Frontline and Community Voices

“After more than a century of living with oil and gas operations and seeing the remnants of aging infrastructure across Diné communities in the San Juan Basin, our communities know what happens when corporations fail to clean up after themselves,” said Robyn Jackson, executive director of Diné C.A.R.E. “These stronger rules are an important step toward ensuring oil and gas corporations are responsible for protecting our water, air, lands, and communities.”

“New Mexicans have been clear: Corporations should clean up the wells they drill,” said Ahtza Chavez, chief executive officer at Naeva. “These rules move us closer to that standard by protecting our communities, our water, and making sure the public isn’t left paying for industry’s mess.”

“In Carlsbad, we’ve seen firsthand what happens when corporations don’t have the financial backing in place to fix problems they create,” said Haley Jones of Citizens Caring for the Future. “These rules are a practical step to make sure corporations clean up their wells so communities like ours aren’t left with the costs or the uncertainty.”

Broad Public Support

The decision reflects strong, statewide support:

• 89% of New Mexicans support requiring corporations to pay to clean up wells they drill
• 91% say industry should be financially responsible for cleanup
• 90% say protecting drinking water and public health is essential
• Support spans political parties and regions across the state.

A Strong National Standard

With today’s vote, New Mexico establishes one of the strongest oil and gas regulatory systems in the nation to prevent orphan wells and ensure timely closure of inactive wells in the country, demonstrating that New Mexico is committed to protecting public health, safeguarding taxpayers, and requiring corporate responsibility.

Looking Ahead

The updated rules mark a major step toward preventing future abandoned wells and protecting New Mexico communities, land, air, and water. By requiring corporations to plan for cleanup upfront, the state reduces long-term environmental and financial risks. At its core, the decision reflects a simple principle: The people who drill and operate wells should be the ones who clean up.

In the coming weeks, the Oil Conservation Commission will issue a written Final Order and publish the rule in the New Mexico Register. Typically, rules become effective 30 days after publication in the Register.

Coalition Support

“Conservation Voters New Mexico (CVNM) Education Fund congratulates the frontline and fenceline communities who have been pushing for better bonding and other oil and gas industry rules for decades,” said Doug Meiklejohn, water quality & land restoration advocate at CVNM Education Fund. “Hard-working New Mexicans and their families and communities are resilient–they deserve clean air, land, water, and good health. These new financial assurance rules are a significant victory that will help ensure oil and gas companies benefitting from our state’s resources will pay to clean up their mess.”

“Low-producing wells can actually be very high-polluting,” said Mandy Sackett, New Mexico lead campaigner for Earthworks. “I’ve documented emissions near schools, improperly functioning flares, and continuous leaks with zero accountability for harms to communities from Counselor to Carlsbad. The new rules make corporations that drill in New Mexico put real money toward cleanup, and that matters for every community I’ve worked in.”

“Orphaned oil and gas wells threaten public health and safety, the water we drink, and the climate,” said Adam Peltz, senior director and lead counsel for energy transition at Environmental Defense Fund. “Far too often, New Mexicans have been left to foot the bill for cleaning up after oil and gas companies, and the state faces billions of dollars in decommissioning risks from low- and non-producing wells. Today, New Mexico finalized reforms to right-size historically insufficient financial assurance, inactive well management and well transfer regulations in order to ensure all wells are plugged in a timely manner at the end of their useful life by their operators. We commend the state for its strong leadership on this critical issue.”

“All religious traditions believe caring for Earth is an ethical and moral responsibility. The oil and gas industry has a responsibility to Earth, our communities, health, and future generations. These state bonding rules are a small way to be responsible and address pollution and harm in favor of the sacredness of Life,” said Sister Joan Brown, community advocate at New Mexico and El Paso Interfaith Power and Light.

“New Mexico families deserve clean air and the assurance that corporations, not hardworking families, are responsible for cleaning up the wells they drill,” said Celerah Hewes on behalf of Moms Clean Air Force. “These stronger protections help safeguard children’s health, reduce harmful methane pollution, and ensure communities across our state are not left with the long-term costs and consequences of abandoned oil and gas wells.”

“When oil and gas companies walk away from cleanup obligations, the costs fall to taxpayers, putting stress on local governments and diverting public revenue away from schools, infrastructure, and essential services,” said Jessica Pace, program director at Western Leaders Network. “By modernizing the state’s bonding program, the Commission establishes New Mexico as a national leader, holds industry accountable for its own mess, and stands up for the natural resources that local elected officials and their communities rely on.”

“New Mexico is finally starting to align oil and gas bonding with the real-world costs and risks communities are already facing across the state,” said Rebecca Sobel, climate and health program director at WildEarth Guardians. “In 2025 alone, industry spilled over 38,000 times, releasing over 9.4 million gallons of toxic liquids across New Mexico. Stronger bonding matters because spills are active, recurring risks tied to aging infrastructure, repeat bad actors, and fracking waste contamination. Today’s vote moves New Mexico closer to a system where corporations, not the public, are responsible for the damage they create.”

“New Mexicans should not be left paying to clean up oil and gas pollution after companies move on. Strong bonding requirements help ensure that taxpayers are not stuck stuck footing the bill plugging wells and restoring land, and that those responsibilities stay with industry. Oil and gas operators should be responsible for cleaning up their mess after they privately profit from extracting public resources. As a parent, I want our public dollars invested in schools and health care, not spent cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells. Updated bonding requirements are an important step toward protecting our communities, our water, and our future,” said by Antoinette Reyes, Sierra club Rio grande chapter organizer.

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The rule ensured conservation, wildlife, clean water, cultural resources, and Indigenous Knowledge would be fully considered alongside development across more than 250 million acres of public land. Rescinding the rule strips the agency of critical tools needed to manage land health and respond to growing climate and ecological challenges, while also harming local communities built on recreational tourism who depend on healthy landscapes.

The move is part of the administration’s agenda to weaken protections in order to benefit extractive industries. As it has with similar attacks on our environment, the administration pushed the rule forward with a truncated public comment period and ignored more than 130,000 comments submitted on the rule–  98% were in support of the Biden-era protections .

The Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter urges our state officials to join other states in opposing this latest attack on New Mexicans, our environment and communities who need more safeguards than ever as climate-related disasters increase.

“The Bureau of Land Management has a responsibility to the land, not to corporations and their corrupt allies in the Trump administration,” said Chapter Director Camilla Feibelman. “Our public land supports tourism, recreation and local economies. And, as our wildfire and drought conditions continue to get worse, this short-sighted move would all but guarantee greater risk for the people of New Mexico. We need our officials to act now and protect us.”

Even with recent policy changes, the responsibility to care for public lands has not changed. The Bureau of Land Management continues to have both the authority and obligation to manage lands for long-term health, balance competing uses, and address the very real degradation facing many landscapes today. Land conservation and management has overwhelming public support. The Sierra Club and its allies will continue to resist all smash-and-grab attempts by the Trump administration to loot our public resources.

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REPORT: Despite federal obstacles, New Mexico making progress on spending EV charging dollars

Amid high gas prices and Trump rollbacks, New Mexico has key opportunity to swiftly spend federal funding for EV charging to help drivers go electric.

SANTA FE — New Mexico has led on transportation electrification and made meaningful progress on rolling out federal EV charging dollars in 2025, but the vast majority of that funding remains unspent, according to a new Sierra Club report out today.

“New Mexico’s Department of Transportation moved quickly and decisively to set aside nearly $64 million for heavy-duty charging along the I-10 corridor, an important early win that is now shifting the state from planning to real-world implementation,” said Camilla Feibelman, Director of the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter. “This progress will help reduce toxic diesel pollution and climate emissions in frontline communities, including in the Las Cruces area and west toward Arizona. Now is the time to build on that momentum for light and heavy duty charging across the state. New Mexico should continue accelerating deployment and ensuring these investments deliver cleaner air, lower fuel prices,  and healthier communities.”

In February 2025, the Trump administration illegally froze the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. Sierra Club, New Mexico, and other states and nonprofit partners challenged that action in federal court and successfully lifted the freeze. NEVI funds were unavailable to New Mexico for nearly five months in 2025 and only fully secured after a final court order in January 2026. Despite these months-long obstructions, 2025 was still the most productive year in the program’s four-year history.

States have to jump through a lot of hoops to implement and spend federal funds for EV charging — including developing statewide plans for NEVI, selecting projects, “obligating” funding (which legally binds the federal government to reimburse their spending), and moving ahead with permitting, design, and construction. New Mexico led in obligating funds and now has a key challenge of expending the funds and opening charging stations to the public. By the end of 2025, New Mexico had:

• Obligated 43% ($16.4M) and spent 14% ($5.6M) out of its $38M of available federal dollars for EV charging stations along highways
• Obligated 100% ($64M) and spent .001% ($.001M) out of its $64M of available federal dollars for public EV truck and bus charging stations
• Opened at least one NEVI charging station to the public

Crucially, New Mexico was able to obligate all of its Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) funding before the Trump administration unlawfully froze the program at the start of 2025. Sierra Club, allied organizations, and over a dozen states challenged the Trump administration’s freeze of the CFI program in federal court in December 2025. That litigation is currently pending and a decision from the federal court is anticipated before the end of 2026.

To speed up the rollout of federal EV charging funds, the report recommends New Mexico and other states use their attorneys general offices to address issues with access to funds, engage with utility regulators and public service commissions to stretch funding, set targets and timelines for rolling out funds, and maximize coordination between state agencies, project applicants and electric utilities.

The State of New Mexico has led on EV policy by enacting EV tax credits for new and used vehicles as well as chargers, passing clean cars and trucks rules to bring more EV to the state, and recently finalizing a clean transportation fuels program (CTFP) that supports transportation electrification. CTFP will generate tens of millions of dollars to invest in electric vehicles and charging infrastructure every year, which will help make the federal investment go further and help more New Mexicans acquire EVs.

Beyond federally-funded projects, 2025 was also the biggest year on record for deployment of privately-funded EV charging stations. According to data released by Paren, more than 18,000 new fast-charging ports were installed nationwide in 2025 (a 30 percent year-over-year increase). As of today, New Mexico has roughly 458 charging stations with 1,169 charging ports open to the public, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Roughly 344 of those ports opened in 2025, marking a roughly 30% year-over-year increase in fast-charging ports in New Mexico.

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

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Press Contact: Bill Rodgers, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter: bill.rodgers@sierraclub.org

Celebrate Earth Day in Balloon Fiesta Park

ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico’s annual Earth Day celebration is back with art, education, sumptuous foods, money-saving home improvements and more!

Please join us from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 26 in Balloon Fiesta Park for Earth Day Festival NM. This family event is full of fun environmental activities focused on our beautiful state of New Mexico. We are expecting a temperate afternoon, perfect for a picturesque day out with our community.

The annual festival is an opportunity for New Mexico to come together and celebrate the wonderful environment we call home. Guests can attend free cooking demonstrations from the finest culinary experts in the region. Speakers will educate guests on climate defense, electrification and community solar projects. There will be an automobile show with exhibitors grilling using their EV batteries. A youth art show will honor our young creatives. Exhibitors and volunteer “energy guides” will work personally with guests on home improvement projects that are eligible for tax credits and rebates.

Please visit us online at EarthDayFestivalNM.org for a full schedule of events, photo opportunities, transportation and parking information and more. Guests may also join us for a group bicycle ride to the festival!

Tickets are still available. Admission is $5 for adults. Children under 18 get in for free. Please contact us with any questions or to get access to our shareable photos and videos of the event.

Hosts & Co-Hosts: The City of Albuquerque and City Council. The Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter. 350 NM. Sunny 505. Gardenswartz Realty.

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