Rio Grande Chapter

District 9: John Sapien
Senator Sapien has been a strong voice in opposing the SandRidge application to drill for oil near Rio Rancho and for enacting protective ordinances in Sandoval County. He will continue to be an ally on important environmental issues in the Senate. District 10: Dave SimonSimon, former director of New Mexico State Parks, has 30 years of experience working on conservation and environmental issues, including profession and volunteer positions at the local, state and national levels.
Simon ...

On Monday night, 36 tankers storing crude oil and wastewater exploded and burned. According to reports, approximately 10 families were evacuated. According to reports this morning, the fire has yet to be extinguished ...

October Outings Tuesday, October 4: Ascent to the Alpine Meadows Adventures Above Santa Fe Ski Basin (recurring hike). Weekly burst of 90 minutes ascending 2,000 vertical feet, with variety of scenic rewards at the top. Departure at 8:30 a.m. from De Vargas Mall, meet behind Albertsons (west side).
Leader: Mark Dunham medunham2@msn.com, (505) 795-0199
Location: Santa Fe area Friday-Monday, October 7-10: Strenuous four-day backpack in Southern Colorado’s South San Juan Wilderness. About 32-mile loop trip starting and ending at the South Fork TH ...

Are you furious over some the campaign calls or mailings you’ve been receiving? At the least, we can keep a record. New Mexico In Depth has created a site to collect and analyze campaign messages in the election: Follow the Message. Please participate in analyzing the language and issues you about this campaign. Thanks,
Jody Benson, chair Featured image from New Mexico in Depth. ...

Below are the New Mexico Environmental Law Center’s objections to the NMED proposed revisions to
the groundwater and surface water regulations, which are available here. Some of the proposed changes are onerous and directly attack public participation, make variances essentially permanent, and take the Kirtland spill “off the books” in terms of regulation

1. On page 10, a proposed revision to variances would permit variances to be granted for periods in excess of 5 years. There would be no cap on the duration of a variance.  They raise the following question: if ...
   
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PNM is pulling out all the stops to increase our electric bills by 15.5%. It went into attack mode when the Public Regulation Commission’s hearing examiner recommended the PRC allow “only” a 6.6% hike. PNM threatened layoffs and court appeals. Its friends in several right-wing groups even attacked the hearing officer for being a former Sierra Club member. PRC commissioners may vote on the rate increase THIS Wednesday. This case has big implications for our climate and our pocketbooks. That’s ...

This op-ed was originally published in the Santa Fe New Mexican. My View: David Coss Public Service Company of New Mexico wants to raise our electric rates by more than 15 percent, and it was not happy that a Public Regulation Commission hearing examiner recommended a rate hike of “only” 6.6 percent. So the utility and its friends have pulled out all the stops to paint the decision as unreasonable, including threats of Supreme Court appeals and layoffs and the strange ...

The chapter sent the following letter on the Dakota Access Pipeline to Sens. Heinrich and Udall and Reps. Lujan and Lujan Grisham on September 8, 2016. Rio Grande Chapter
1807 Second Street, Suite 45
Santa Fe, N.M. 87505
(505) 983-2703 Senator Tom Udall   via michelle_kavanaugh@tomudall.senate.gov
Senator Martin Heinrich   via zach_aronow@heinrich.senate.gov
Representative Ben R. Lujan via Nicholas.maestas@mail.house.gov
Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham via Elizabeth.reitzel@mail.house.gov September 8, 2016 Dear Congressional Delegates, The Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club has 7,500 members ...

Our public lands are under siege, and the Bureau of Land Management continues to prioritize oil and gas extraction over our climate, air and water. We need your help to protect Chaco Canyon and the surrounding communities from fracking. https://www.riograndesierraclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/METHANE-CUT-5-SD.mp4 ...

Chaco Culture National Historical Park is Northwest New Mexico’s San Juan Basin, where there are over 56,000 oil and gas wells and processing plants. Last month, NASA released a report that identified natural gas waste and methane pollution as major contributors to the methane cloud hovering over the Four Corners. Now, the BLM is planning to lease 843 more acres of land in the Greater Chaco area to oil and gas developers at a Jan. 18 auction. The BLM’s Farmington Field office ...