I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Arizona Public Service, Inc, operator of The Four Corners Power Plant, located about 25 miles west of Farmington, was sued Tuesday by Earthjustice, a non-profit environmental law firm, which claims that for years the plant operated outside the rules set down in the Clean Air Act. Earthjustice seeks for the plant to improve its emissions or otherwise it have to shut down
The Sierra Club and the Natural Resource Defense Council are suing the state for issuing an air permit for a coal-burning power generation facility planned by the Wolverine Power Cooperative in Rogers City.
The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the environmental group New Energy Economy, allowing it to participate in future meetings with the Environmental Impact Board over greenhouse gas regulations for public utilities.
New Mexico’s oil and gas utilities have filed petitions with the state’s Environmental Impact Board, seeking to overturn rules establishing a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions in the state.
A bill that would bar all New Mexico environmental boards from passing greenhouse gas regulations that are more stringent than the national regulations cleared a Senate committee Tuesday. The bill, SB 489, is likely in response to the Environmental Improvement Board passing greenhouse gas regulations last year.
The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled Wednesday morning that Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration was wrong to halt the publication of rules in the state Register and issued a writ that compels Martinez’s office to publish the rules. This included a greenhouse emissions cap rule passed by the Environmental Improvement Board last year and a rule on dairy regulations had been passed by the Water Quality Control Commission in December 2010.
The state legislature and Gov. Susana Martinez will begin the 2011 session today with some big ticket items — including, most notably, a state budget deficit that’s estimated to be anywhere from $200 and $400 million. Martinez has vowed to fill the gap without raising taxes or making cuts to either classroom education or Medicaid.
At Friday night’s closing plenary, delegates to the United Nation’s climate talks emphasized compromise and balance. Afterwards, they returned to meetings, and in the early morning hours on Saturday, agreed to continue discussions next year on the Kyoto Protocol’s second commitment period and the design of a Green Climate Fund and the creation of low-carbon development plans by industrialized nations.
After the “COP 16″ talks in Cancún end today, the public should anticipate that US officials will pin blame for the failed negotiations on Bolivia’s President Evo Morales. That’s despite the fact that in almost 20 years of talks, the US has never agreed to legally binding cuts in carbon emissions.
CANCÚN, MEXICO — On Monday, Kevin Conrad, special envoy and ambassador for environment and climate change, Papua New Guinea, unveiled a new project from Sir Richard Branson: The Carbon War Room is a US-based nonprofit that “harnesses the power of entrepreneurs to implement market-driven solutions to climate change.”
CANCÚN, MEXICO — As the second week of climate negotiations begins, the Mexican government is preparing for the arrival of ministers and world leaders–and hoping to head-off the same chaos that broke apart last year’s talks in Copenhagen.
BP says it will offer oil spill victims a sum equal to or better than the compensation a protracted legal battle would yield. But to get that money, a claimant must prove “proximate cause,” or a connection between the spill and the damages they have suffered. The definition of proximate cause that the independent administrator settles on — various Gulf states define proximate cause differently — will have a major impact on who receives compensation and who does not, experts say.
On Monday, the New Mexico Environment Improvement Board began hearing testimony from experts, citizens and industry concerning a rule change that could allow New Mexico to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and the oil and gas industry. The rule, proposed by New Energy Economy the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, would affect coal and natural gas power plants, as well as oil and gas facilities.
Conservation Voters New Mexico (CVNM) has unveiled a new website, NMGreenGov.org, summarizing the conservation records of all the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor.
At the end of April, the Center for Biological Diversity announced it plans to sue the Forest Service for not protecting rare species on lands throughout Arizona and New Mexico. The group says the Forest Service has continued to approve projects that destroy endangered species and their habitat without doing required monitoring.
According to a statement by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., 14 Senators had a “good discussion” with President Barack Obama on climate legislation that most Senate Democrats hope to pass in 2010.
“We had a very good discussion…
Two years after Bernalillo spent at least $4.9 million installing new water treatment equipment, the state Environment Department will now step in to help the town address problems with the system and drinking water quality, a Department spokeswoman told The Independent.
Reforming a state law that allows landowners to kill wild game that cause property damage will be a priority issue for environmental groups at the state Legislature this year.
CO2 is Green, a group founded by coal, oil and gas interests, has begun airing ads in New Mexico and Montana, aiming to fend off cap-and-trade legislation, the Guardian reports. The ad urges viewers to contact their congressmen; New…
