2009 Annual Report

Dear Environment New Mexico members,

The states have been called the true “laboratories of democracy,” and here in New Mexico we’ve tested and proven that when people come together, we can protect our environment, increase our energy security, and build a strong economy all at the same time.

On Feb. 17, less than one month after his inauguration, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act–a comprehensive economic stimulus package designed to put the country back on track. At the very core of the plan was an $80 billion dollar investment in clean energy infrastructure, signaling an incredible commitment to repowering our economy and our country in a clean, green way.

Environment New Mexico helped pave the way for this victory for the environment, as well as another: With our support and advocacy, New Mexico’s entire U.S. House of Representatives delegation voted for the American Clean Energy and Security Act, an enormous first step in the fight against global warming. To this end, we educated citizens and lawmakers on the consequences of inaction or further delay. And we went door-to-door and reached out online to raise awareness and give citizens a chance to make their voices heard, through the hundreds of petition signatures we gathered across the state this summer.

We also led the way in pushing for a new energy economy in New Mexico. Of course, our state has more solar power potential than most. If we set the right goals, standards and incentives, New Mexico can and should become a world leader in solar energy development and generation, creating new green jobs in the process. That’s why we worked to fast-track solar development at the state and federal levels, supporting solar projects across the state.

With no time to waste, we are digging in, working with our allies, and making sure that New Mexico continues to be the state that is supplying the solutions.

Sincerely,

Rob SargentEnergy Program Director

Anna AurilioFederal Legislative

Director

Emily FigdorFederal Global

Warming Director

From our staff

Environment New Mexico

Rob SargentEnergy Program

Director

John RumplerSenior

Environmental Attorney

Clean Energy

While some states struggle with problems of air quality, most New Mexico residents can still breathe deeply and confidently. In fact, the American Lung Association rated Santa Fe’s air quality as among the best in the nation. But to keep our state’s air clean, we need to protect it from those who would pollute it for private gain.

Sithe Global Power is proposing to build another large coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Reservation, which would emit over 12 million tons of carbon dioxide, ozone, mercury and other pol-lutants into the air each year. Thankfully, a federal appeals board ordered the EPA to take another look at the proposed permit.

Environment New Mexico is working with our community partners to assure that the EPA rules against Sithe and the Desert Rock coal plant is not built.

Keeping New Mexico’s air clean of dirty coal

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A coal-fired power plant vents pollutants into our atmosphere.

Page 1 banner photo credit: MM5, shutterstockcom. Page 2 photo credits: banner, Beltran, shutterstock.com; main image, Carlstone, shutterstock.com.

Stopping Global WarmingCan we build a new economy powered by clean energy? Can we act boldly and quickly enough to reduce our carbon footprint and draw our planet back from the brink of a climate disaster?

Global warming is the challenge of a lifetime, but not because our country lacks the technology or expertise to confront it. The real challenge is building support for the action that’s required, especially given the influence powerful oil and coal interests have on Capitol Hill.

A different climate in WashingtonWith the election of Barack Obama and the most pro-environ-ment Congress in decades, hopes are high for a clean break from the delay and denial that characterized the Bush adminis-tration’s approach to climate policy.

Clockwise from top left: Environment New Mexico staff deliver letters from constituents to Sen. Jeff Bingaman supporting clean energy. A solar power array soaks up the New Mexico Sun. Workers installing home solar panels.

Environment New Mexico

Stopping Global WarmingOver the last year, we outlined a vision on energy and climate policy to put our country on the right track: getting 100 percent of our electricity from renewable sources, improving efficien-cy in our homes and businesses, and cutting global warming pollution at least 80 percent by 2050. During the presidential transition, our federal global warming program director, Emily Figdor, and our federal legislative director Anna Aurilio, worked to build support for this vision with the new administration.

Despite setbacks, historic progress in CongressDuring the first half of 2009, the House of Representatives de-bated new legislation to combat global warming. We focused our energy on building support among citizens and constitu-encies that could influence the congressional representatives whose votes would be essential to the bill’s passage.

Our staff educated citizens and lawmakers on the consequenc-es of inaction or further delay on global warming solutions. We also mobilized our grassroots activists—our staff gathered hundreds of petition signatures during one-on-one conversa-tions with New Mexico residents, and hundreds of Environment New Mexico supporters took action through our Web site.

In July, the House voted to pass the energy and climate bill by a narrow seven-vote margin. All three members of New Mexi-co’s delegation voted for this historic legislation.

Although the bill made a number of concessions to oil and coal companies, we continued to support the legislation and worked hard to strengthen and pass it. America can’t wait any longer to get started fighting global warming, and this bill has the potential to transform our energy systems.

Page 4Banner photo credit: Dodson, shutterstock.com.Page 3 photo credits, clockwise from top left: Staff; Fuertes, shutterstock.com; Young, shutterstock.com.

Preserving New MexicoThe mountains, grasslands, watersheds and open spaces of New Mexico are its most precious assets, constitutive of the state’s very identity. They have inspired and awed generations of New Mexico residents.

And yet mega-developers such as Verde Group and SunCal are working to turn these beautiful places into sprawling devel-opments and subdivisions. In addition to gobbling up tens of thousands of acres of land, they want billions of dollars in tax giveaways. Under their plan, up to 75 percent of increased tax revenue from their developments could go directly into their own pockets.

In the 2008 legislative session, Environment New Mexico and our allies were able to stop the Legislature from approving the developer’s tax bill. However, we know that we will need to continue to build up community support for keeping our open spaces so we can win the next battle as well.

Sprawl not only threatens the beauty of New Mexico’s lands, but also their sustainability.

Environment New Mexico

Preserving New Mexico

The effects of subsidized sprawlAs inefficient developers eat up our open spaces, New Mexico residents are losing the natural character and beauty of our state. We risk trading our mesas and plains for yet another set of strip malls.

Rapid, unplanned sprawl also has global consequences. New Mexico is sixth in the nation for vehicle miles traveled per driv-er, averaging about 18,500 miles per year.

The big developer giveawayTax Increment Development Districts (TIDDs) were originally created as a financial tool for local governments to promote urban renewal. Instead, TIDDs have been used to subsidize sprawling development.

Public transportation is often slow to follow TIDDs. Personal automobile travel is usually the most convenient, and some-times the only, way to get around. Sprawl issues resulting from TIDDs have also been linked to higher rates of obesity and hypertension, as fewer people are able to walk or bike to work, school, or local businesses.

We need to stop the New Mexico land rush and close down this sprawl subsidy, which is jeopardizing our open spaces and our quality of life.

Rather than incentivizing fringe development with developer handouts, taxpayer money should be used to invest in envi-ronmental programs, city services, education and teachers—creating the kind of state we want to live in.

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Clean WaterFrom the Rio Grande to Santa Rosa Lake, from Elephant Butte Lake to the Picos River, our rivers and lakes define what it means to be from New Mexico. But last year, these iconic waterways faced a renewed threat from polluters.

Into each of these great bodies of water flows a series of smaller streams and wetlands. If the smaller upstream waters are pol-luted or impaired, the larger waters pay the price.

A pair of misguided Supreme Court decisions put New Mexico’s rivers and lakes at risk by removing Clean Water Act protections from millions of acres of wetlands and thousands of small streams across the United States.

Environment New Mexico built support to restore Clean Water Act protection to these streams and wetlands. Although there is still work to be done, we’ve made real progress.

New Mexico’s reserves of water need to be used wisely and protected sufficiently to prevent contamination.

Environment New Mexico

Clean Water

Protecting our watersEnvironment New Mexico’s staff has been working throughout the year to restore Clean Water Act safeguards to the small streams and wetlands that recent Supreme Court decisions left unprotected.

We won our first victory in June, when a Senate committee ap-proved the Clean Water Restoration Act. If it passes, the bill will restore the protections for small streams and wetlands that the Supreme Court stripped away.

In October, Environment New Mexico Senior Environmental At-torney John Rumpler testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on unlawful pollution threatening our waterways.

Hundreds of New Mexico citizen activists took action online to urge their representatives to support the Clean Water Restora-tion Act.

Environment New Mexico Advocate Kim McMurray got the at-tention of the local media in October when she released a report on toxic chemicals in New Mexico’s rivers. The report, “Wasting Our Waterways: Industrial Pollution and the Unful-filled Promise of the Clean Water Act,” demonstrated that in 2007, polluters dumped over 56,000 pounds of toxic chemi-cals into New Mexico’s rivers, lakes and streams—and a total of 230 million pounds of pollution were discharged into water-ways across the country.

Page 8Banner photo credit: Amygdala Imagery, shutterstock.comPage 7 photo credit: Deluxe, shutterstock.com