Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter responds to court order on leasing pause
On June 16, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Biden administration's pause on new oil and gas leasing on federal public lands pending reviewing of the Interior Department’s leasing program. The court’s preliminary injunction, which applies to Interior leasing nationwide, harms the needed transition from fossil-fuel pollution and efforts to address the climate emergency ...
NM Environment Department proposes improved methane safeguards

Today, the New Mexico Environment Department proposed new rules to limit emissions from oil and gas operations in the state by requiring companies to detect and repair leaks as well as control other pollution sources. The new rules aim to elevate New Mexico’s position for clean air regulations on the oil and gas industry among major-producing states from worst to first. Today’s rules combine with companion rules from the state’s Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) limiting industry venting and flaring of methane targeting that goal.

“The Environment Department responded to our call and the call from many community and environmental groups around the state to tighten gaping loopholes in its original draft rule ...

Senate Passes Resolution to Reinstate Methane Pollution Safeguards

April 27, 2021

Senate Passes Resolution to Reinstate Methane Pollution Safeguards

Washington, DC — Today, the Senate passed (52-42) a resolution that would reinstate the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2016 methane pollution safeguards for the oil and gas industry. The move is another critical step forward in undoing the previous administration’s reckless assaults on vital climate and public health protections. Last night, the White House released a statement indicating their support of the resolution.

Methane, the primary component of fracked gas, is a powerful climate pollutant that is 87 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the planet in the near-term. Methane emissions reached record highs over the last year even as the pandemic shut down significant parts of the ...

President Biden Boosts New Mexico’s Clean Car Efforts

For Immediate Release: Monday, April 26, 2021

President Biden Boosts New Mexico’s Clean Car Efforts

New Rule Would Reaffirm New Mexico’s Authority to Set Stronger Vehicle Emission Standards, Helping to Protect the Climate, Improve Public Health, and Save Drivers Money

[SANTA FE, NM] — Today, the Biden Administration proposed to restore state authority to adopt stronger vehicle tailpipe pollution standards. The move will help Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham fulfill a pledge to adopt Clean Cars policy in New Mexico in 2021, and boost state efforts to address climate change and clean up the air. It also offers one potential path to reach 100 percent zero emission vehicles by 2035, as Governor Lujan Grisham called for in a letter to ...

130+ Groups Urge Biden to Act on Methane
In a letter to the Biden administration, 134 environmental, public health, and advocacy organizations are urging President Biden to direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use the full power of sections 111(b) and 111(d) of the Clean Air Act to reduce methane air pollution from new and existing sources of oil and gas development by 65% by 2025 ...
200 groups to Biden: Align federal fossil fuel programs with U.S. climate goals
Hundreds of Native American, religious, business and conservation organizations called on the Biden administration to do a comprehensive environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws to align federal fossil fuel programs with U.S. climate goals to curb global warming ...
PNM cites ETA in proposing 100% solar and storage to replace nuclear
After announcing it would drop one of its leases in the Palo Verde Nuclear plant last year, this month PNM proposed replacing the energy with 100% solar and battery. In support of its proposal, PNM cited the Energy Transition Act’s requirements and the Public Regulation Commission’s decision last year to choose a 100% solar/storage proposal rather than PNM’s favored gas-inclusive replacement scenario for San Juan Generating Station coal. The replacement proposal will need to be approved by the commission ...
NM Environmental Groups Praises Haaland’s Secretarial Orders on Climate, Energy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, April 16, 2021
Contact: Camilla Feibelman, camilla.feibelman@sierraclub.org, 505.715.8388

NM Environmental Groups Praises Haaland’s Secretarial Orders on Climate, Energy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Interior Secretary Haaland today issued two executive orders prioritizing action on climate change and revoking Trump administration policies promoting fossil fuel development over the health of communities and the outdoors. The orders ensure that the social cost of carbon and other climate pollution is considered in decision making, and instructs agencies within the Department of the Interior not to adhere to the Trump-era regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). They also focus on economic justice and a just transition for communities most reliant on fossil fuels.

In response NM Environmental Groups ...