Seeking student Water Sentinels
By Eric Patterson Water Sentinels — Rios de Taos has been awarded a grant to encourage student participation in water-monitoring activities and the general environmental activities of Sierra Club. We will continue to work with Taos High School students — the Tiger Salamanders — and will be contacting other high schools to initiate more student environmental programs. Our long-term goal is to have more student environmental organizations and more young Sierra Club members. If you know of any New Mexico ...
El Paso solar customers targeted for higher rates
By Robert Moss,
Eco El Paso board member In February 2017, El Paso Electric (EPE) yet again filed to increase rates in its Texas service region. It was only in August that the company completely withdrew its proposed fees on solar in Texas. But following a couple of highly profitable quarters, it is again seeking a rate increase. Their residential customers and the citizens’ advocates for living sustainably, Eco El Paso, are weary of fighting but believe we must ...
Eco El Paso board member In February 2017, El Paso Electric (EPE) yet again filed to increase rates in its Texas service region. It was only in August that the company completely withdrew its proposed fees on solar in Texas. But following a couple of highly profitable quarters, it is again seeking a rate increase. Their residential customers and the citizens’ advocates for living sustainably, Eco El Paso, are weary of fighting but believe we must ...
Sierra Club intervenes in PNM rate case
By Mona Blaber,
Chapter communications coordinator Late last year, PNM filed a case seeking to increase electricity rates by an average of about 14% — right on the heels of another rate increase approved by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission in August. PNM’s application included requests for spending on large capital projects at the San Juan and Four Corners coal plants. These coal plants are becoming increasingly uncompetitive compared to other available sources of generation, such as wind and ...
Chapter communications coordinator Late last year, PNM filed a case seeking to increase electricity rates by an average of about 14% — right on the heels of another rate increase approved by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission in August. PNM’s application included requests for spending on large capital projects at the San Juan and Four Corners coal plants. These coal plants are becoming increasingly uncompetitive compared to other available sources of generation, such as wind and ...
EPA protects us; let’s protect it
By Denise Fort,
Chapter Energy chair President Donald Trump’s budget represents an unprecedented attack on the agencies that protect our environment, and, perhaps more ominously, on science. We need to communicate to everyone — the media, elected officials, civic groups, friends in other states — the reasons a strong EPA is important to our health and the planet. The facts: the proposed budget would slash spending at EPA by more than 30%. It would also slash spending at science-based ...
Chapter Energy chair President Donald Trump’s budget represents an unprecedented attack on the agencies that protect our environment, and, perhaps more ominously, on science. We need to communicate to everyone — the media, elected officials, civic groups, friends in other states — the reasons a strong EPA is important to our health and the planet. The facts: the proposed budget would slash spending at EPA by more than 30%. It would also slash spending at science-based ...
Hope for slashing methane waste
By Camilla Feibelman,
Chapter director Common-sense, climate-protecting methane rules have been targeted as the next victim of an obscure tool that President Trump and congressional Republicans have used to revoke stream protections and other air and water safeguards. But the Sierra Club and our allies are building bipartisan opposition to this effort to appease the oil and gas industry at tragic cost. You may already know that methane is a colorless, odorless substance that is also the main component of ...
Chapter director Common-sense, climate-protecting methane rules have been targeted as the next victim of an obscure tool that President Trump and congressional Republicans have used to revoke stream protections and other air and water safeguards. But the Sierra Club and our allies are building bipartisan opposition to this effort to appease the oil and gas industry at tragic cost. You may already know that methane is a colorless, odorless substance that is also the main component of ...
Volunteerism, membership skyrocket
By Mona Blaber,
Chapter communications coordinator The election of President Donald Trump, his anti-environment Cabinet appointees and a Congress insistent on unraveling climate, water, wildlife and lands protections have been frightening, but they have unleashed a powerful citizen determination. Membership in the Rio Grande Chapter (New Mexico and El Paso) has increased from 8,000 people to more than 9,000 just since the elections. More importantly, member engagement has surged, as have inquiries from those who want to know how to ...
Chapter communications coordinator The election of President Donald Trump, his anti-environment Cabinet appointees and a Congress insistent on unraveling climate, water, wildlife and lands protections have been frightening, but they have unleashed a powerful citizen determination. Membership in the Rio Grande Chapter (New Mexico and El Paso) has increased from 8,000 people to more than 9,000 just since the elections. More importantly, member engagement has surged, as have inquiries from those who want to know how to ...
Coal reels as wind and solar rise
By Mona Blaber,
Chapter communications coordinator A seismic shift for energy and the climate has hit the Southwest, and New Mexico in particular. On March 16, Public Service Company of New Mexico announced that it would likely benefit customer bills to retire New Mexico’s San Juan Generating Station in 2022, when coal and ownership contracts expire. PNM said it had not made a final decision on the plant’s future. That announcement came less than a month after owners of Arizona’s ...
Chapter communications coordinator A seismic shift for energy and the climate has hit the Southwest, and New Mexico in particular. On March 16, Public Service Company of New Mexico announced that it would likely benefit customer bills to retire New Mexico’s San Juan Generating Station in 2022, when coal and ownership contracts expire. PNM said it had not made a final decision on the plant’s future. That announcement came less than a month after owners of Arizona’s ...
Kit Carson Electric Co-op aims for 100% solar on sunny days
By Bob Bresnahan,
Kit Carson board, Renewable Taos Taos-based Kit Carson Electric Cooperative and Guzman Renewable Energy Partners will build 30 one-megawatt solar arrays around Kit Carson’s service area over the next six years. Kit Carson CEO Luis Reyes and Guzman CEO Chris Riley say that on a sunny day all electricity provided by Kit Carson will come from the sun by the fall of 2022. Reaching the 100% day-time milestone is an impressive goal, especially since Kit Carson and ...
Kit Carson board, Renewable Taos Taos-based Kit Carson Electric Cooperative and Guzman Renewable Energy Partners will build 30 one-megawatt solar arrays around Kit Carson’s service area over the next six years. Kit Carson CEO Luis Reyes and Guzman CEO Chris Riley say that on a sunny day all electricity provided by Kit Carson will come from the sun by the fall of 2022. Reaching the 100% day-time milestone is an impressive goal, especially since Kit Carson and ...
$1.6 billion for wind in New Mexico, west Texas
By Mona Blaber Xcel Energy, the parent company of New Mexico utility Southwestern Public Service, announced on March 21 that it plans to spend $1.6 billion on 1.23 gigawatts of wind energy in New Mexico and West Texas. The Sagamore Wind Project, to be built in Roosevelt County, about 20 miles south of Portales, would be by far the largest wind facility in the state at 522 megawatts. Xcel also plans a 478-MW plant near Lubbock, Texas. The company said ...
By Terry Owen,
Military Outings Program coordinator The Sierra Club Military Outdoors Program wants you! We’re seeking active-duty military, veterans and their families, friends and supporters to join us for outdoor adventures. The mission objectives are to offer participants new experiences, learning opportunities and challenges in a safe environment. Program leaders Terry Owen and John Link are Navy and Air Force veterans, respectively. We recently led an introductory snowshoe hike in the Sandia Mountains on a sparkling winter day in ...
Military Outings Program coordinator The Sierra Club Military Outdoors Program wants you! We’re seeking active-duty military, veterans and their families, friends and supporters to join us for outdoor adventures. The mission objectives are to offer participants new experiences, learning opportunities and challenges in a safe environment. Program leaders Terry Owen and John Link are Navy and Air Force veterans, respectively. We recently led an introductory snowshoe hike in the Sandia Mountains on a sparkling winter day in ...
