New Mexico Environmental Issues

I. Zero-Waste Lead
By a  3-1 vote, Bernalillo County commissioners passed an ordinance banning plastic bags and styrofoam takeout containers that will go into effect in January 2020. The ordinance is stronger than the one in the City of Albuquerque, which doesn't ban styrofoam  takeout containers. [1]

II. Reducing Coal Power
"On March 22, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the Energy Transition Act (ETA, SB 489) into state law, mandating 50% renewable energy generation by 2030 and 100% carbon-free by 2045." "The first part requests the PRC's permission to abandon the San Juan Generating Station, and get out of dirty coal, which currently supplies 30% or 490 MW of PNM's energy." PNM already has 140 MW of solar pending before the commission as part of a prior request. It is currently at 13% of renewable energy. [2]

III. Tide Turns Chaco's Way
"New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard signed an executive order establishing a four-year moratorium on new oil and gas leases on 72,776 acres of state trust lands within 10 miles of Chaco Park. Unfortunately, the BLM Rio Puerco Field Office recently leased 37,000 acres at the June 20th on-line lease sale -- an area larger that the Park itself." [3]

Chaco has cave dwellings built into a cliff.

IV. New Mexico Methane
According to the Sierra Club's partner organization, Environmental Defense Fund, the 1 million metric tons of methane wasted by the New Mexico oil and gas industry has the same short-term impacts as 22 coal-fired power plants, or 28 million automobiles. [4]

"More than 130,000 New Mexicans live within a half mile of oil and gas developments."

Footnotes:
[1] Anni Hanna, Bernalillo takes zero-waste lead," Sierra, July/August/September 2019.

[2] Brittany Fallon, "PNM filing to drop San Juan coal power." Same as above.

[3] Miya King Flaherty, "Tide finally turning Chaco's way." Same as above.

[4] Camilla Feibelman, "Signs of progress on clearing up methane." Same as above.