Rio Grande Chapter

Chapter Executive Committee: Mayane Barudin:  Mayane advocates for inclusive renewable energy policy development and implementation. A proud Indigenous woman and a Tribal member of Kewa Pueblo in New Mexico, Mayane hopes to enable economic prosperity and environmental justice for her community and Indigenous peoples through energy policy reform and statewide solar campaign initiatives. Her work prioritizes environmental and energy justice for historically underserved communities. Mayane started Sovereign Energy as a native-led nonprofit organization to help center Tribal energy sovereignty and ...
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Thanks to everyone who voted in the 2021 local elections, and a super big thanks to all of you who got out and worked for the election of our endorsed candidates.  The results were mostly good, but with some disappointments ...
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If you live in Albuquerque District 7 or District 9, it’s urgent that you vote! This is a nonpartisan election, but both of the candidates endorsed by the Sierra Club are Democrats running against Republicans.  In the last City runoff election, the Republican vote dropped off 18% from the general election vote, while the Democratic vote dropped off 32%.  That’s the difference between winning and losing these races.  So far, in Rob Grilley’s race, Republicans are outvoting Democrats.  46.7% of ...
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Biden, Haaland offer new promise to finally address sacrifice zones, environmental justice for Greater Chaco Region For Immediate Release:  November 15, 2021 Contact: Daniel Tso, Chairman, Health Education and Human Services 24th Navajo Nation Council, danieltso@navajo-nsn.gov, (928) 318-0039 Mario Atencio, Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment, mario.atencio@dine-care.org, (505) 321-9974 Julia Bernal, Pueblo Action Alliance, julia.f.bernal@gmail.com, (505) 220-0051 Corn Howland, Diné Allottees Against Oil Exploitation, howland4114@gmail.com, (505) 469-8229 Greater Chaco Coalition Celebrates New Path Forward for Landscape Protection Counselor, NM — ...
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On November 2, policy experts, frontline leaders, and corporate accountability advocates joined a press briefing to respond to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed new Clean Air Act safeguards to reduce methane and other harmful pollutants from new and existing sources in the oil and natural gas industry which were announced earlier today ...
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For immediate release: Nov. 2, 2021 Washington, DC — On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency released critical new draft rules to reduce methane emissions and other pollution from the oil and gas industry. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is more than 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Methane is also emitted alongside other harmful pollution that puts communities at risk of serious negative health effects. Although the Trump administration sought to eliminate Obama-era limits ...
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the WCS/ISP high-level “temporary” storage for used fuel rods from commercial nuclear reactors. These fuel cores remain extremely radioactive for a million years, despite objections from both Texas and New Mexico governors. This site is 5 miles from Eunice, NM, the largest nearby city ...
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After two years of negotiations, Del Oro Dairy in Anthony, NM, has agreed to several modifications to its original plan to capture polluted shallow groundwater from beneath its facility.  This revised plan is the culmination of efforts between  the New Mexico Environment Department’s Groundwater Quality Bureau, the New Mexico Citizens Dairy Coalition and Del Oro. It represents the hope that this plan spells the end for the shallow-water pollution plume that is already under residential neighborhoods and has been contributing ...
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For over 900 miles, the Pecos River stretches from its high-elevation headwaters in the Pecos Wilderness south through Tecolote, Santa Rosa, Roswell, Carlsbad and across the border to Pecos, Texas. It is the life-blood of eastern New Mexico towns, ranches, farms and natural landscapes. Permitted use of the water for industrial development has been low ever since the Terrero Mine and Molino closed in 1950 and was designated as a “Superfund-level” site in 1995. Over $38 million and 20 years of ...
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For immediate release: Oct. 25, 2021 Santa Fe, NM – At her speech at the Speaker’s Climate Summit (2:33:35) on Monday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham promised to propose legislation codifying the goals of her 2019 Climate Executive Order in the 2022 New Mexico legislative session. Climate and community advocates, who applauded the announcement, have been supporting climate-justice legislation that would create jobs and uplift frontline communities by moving toward a clean-energy economy and enshrining the economy-wide commitments to net-zero climate ...
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