Groups Applaud Greater Chaco Landscape Protection
New Mexico Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and New Mexico Congressman Ben Ray Lujan and Congresswoman Deb Haaland introduced the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act of 2019, which would withdraw federal minerals from oil and gas leasing in roughly a 10-mile buffer around Chaco Culture National Historical Park ...
Protect Communities, Protect the Climate: No New Leases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 28, 2019

Photos: HERE
Frack Off Greater Chaco videos: HERE

Contacts

Daniel Tso, Navajo Nation Council Delegate, (928) 318-0039
Rebecca Sobel, Climate and Energy Senior Campaigner, WildEarth Guardians, (267) 402-0724
Miya King-Flaherty, Our Wild New Mexico Organizer, Sierra Club-Rio Grande Chapter, (505) 301-0863

Protect Communities, Protect the Climate: No New Leases

New Mexicans Strike and Sit-In at BLM State Headquarters to Protest New Fracking in Greater Chaco and Greater Carlsbad

Santa Fe, N.M. – Crowds gathered today for a climate strike in front of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) state office in Santa Fe to protest the lease sale of 11,000 acres of public and ancestral tribal lands in Greater Chaco and Greater Carlsbad regions. The ...

Carbon-free is New Mexico law! Gov. Lujan Grisham signs historic legislation

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 transition for plant and mine workers and provides additional investment in the Four Corners area, where the coal-fired San Juan ...

Over 30,000 Protests Delivered Opposing Oil and Gas Lease Sale
On February 20, 2019, crowds gathered at the New Mexico Legislature to celebrate the state’s public lands and call for their protection as a diverse coalition of tribal leaders, legislators, land users, and allied organizations showcased the delivery of 30,000 public protests to the BLM in opposition to its March 2019 oil and gas lease sale ...
Landmark Energy Transition Act passes NM Legislature!
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 ...
Sierra Club Report - Clean Energy and Battery Storage the Lowest-Cost Option to Replace San Juan Coal Plant
A study finds a mix of renewable energy, battery storage, and energy efficiency is the lowest-cost option for Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to replace the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station. San Juan is on track to close in 2022 ...
Sierra Club statement on Gov. Lujan Grisham’s executive order

For immediate release: Jan. 29, 2019. Contact: Camilla Feibelman, Rio Grande Chapter director, camilla.feibelman@sierraclub.org

SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday formally ordered that New Mexico will join the U.S. Climate Alliance, embracing the goals set by the 2015 Paris Agreement and aligning New Mexico with the U.S. governors and states that have committed to a climate-conscious future of protecting people, natural resources and cultural heritage.

In response, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Chair David Coss issued the following statement:

“Climate change is the greatest crisis facing humanity. If we don’t act urgently, climate disruption will negatively impact every other major issue we struggle with, including the economy, health care and racial ...

Sierra Club responds to land commissioner’s ban on killing contests

Garcia Richard’s decision is a victory for sound wildlife management

For immediate release: Jan. 10, 2019   Contact: Mary Katherine Ray, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Wildlife chair, 575-772-5655, mkrscrim@gmail.com

On Thursday, New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard announced a ban on cruel coyote-killing contests on the 9.5 million acres of state trust land. The ban also applies to other non-protected species.

“We applaud Land Commissioner Garcia Richard’s announcement prohibiting the competitive killing of our state’s wildlife on state trust land,” said Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Wildlife Chair Mary Katherine Ray. “These organized wildlife massacres do not meet any modern principle of scientific wildlife management.”

Contest participants’ claim they are controlling populations are not evidence-based: Biologists have found killing ...