Sustainability

Published February 19 in Santa Fe New Mexican

We have all seen our Public Service Company of New Mexico electricity rates increase over the past few years. From April 2008 to today, PNM rates for the average residential customer has increased by 41 percent or $250 per year.

Where is all of this money going? More of it should be coming right back to you and other customers in the form of PNM information and rebates to lower your costs for energy-efficient light bulbs, appliances, weatherization and insulation. But currently most of it is going to keep PNM's aging coal plants running and hooking up more energy-guzzling housing subdivisions.

Why should you care? Because energy efficiency is the cheapest way to satisfy New Mexico's electricity demand, by a significant margin. PNM's 2010 annual report on energy efficiency states that the average cost to save a kilowatt hour of electrical energy is 1.86 cents. Compare that to the 11 cents per kWh paid by the average residential user.

02/02/2012 From Michael Brune, Executive Director

Have you ever had to turn away millions of dollars? It sounds crazy, but here's why the Sierra Club chose to do exactly that.

In 2010, soon after I became the organization's executive director, I learned that beginning in 2007 the Sierra Club had received more than $26 million from individuals or subsidiaries of Chesapeake Energy, one of the country's largest natural gas companies. At the same time I learned about the donation, we at the Club were also hearing from scientists and from local Club chapters about the risks that natural gas drilling posed to our air, water, climate, and people in their communities. We cannot accept money from an industry we need to change. Very quickly, the board of directors, with my strong encouragement, cut off these donations and rewrote our gift acceptance policy. Let me tell you how it came about.

SANTA FE, N.M.— On January 19th, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) filed its Brief in Chief for its clients in an appeal arguing that the New Mexico Construction Industry Commission violated numerous laws when it rolled back the Energy Efficient Building Codes adopted in 2010. The Commission did not meet requirements that give the public the right to effectively participate in the making of laws and that require decision-makers to explain their actions.

By Dan Lorimier, Conservation coordinator, Southern and El Paso groups

After roughly two and a half years of effort, the Rio Grande Chapter has successfully helped protect New Mexico’s precious but highly threatened groundwater that 9 out of 10 of us rely on for drinking.

*Santa Fe, NM- December 14, 2011* - The first four chapters of the Sustainable Land Development Code (SLDC) were released to the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) and the public at the December 13, 2011 BCC Meeting. The SLDC will implement the goals, policies, and strategies of the adopted Sustainable Growth Management Plan (SGMP), which was approved in November 2010. Copies and CDs are available at County Administrative Offices in the Planning Division at 102 Grant Ave. and are available at the County Satellite Offices (Pojoaque, Eldorado, Edgewood).

WHAT IS SERA?

We are a large group of committed Eldorado area residents forming an ecological partnership with our environment by conserving natural resources and inspiring action to ensure a sustainable and resilient future for our community.

By Mike Weinberg, Chapter Water Chair

We all by now have heard that worldwide shortages of fresh water are expected in the coming decades due to increased demand from an ever-growing global population and anticipated drying of the earth’s climate.

Development of new water supplies and better management of existing sources will be necessary in order to meet the challenges that lie ahead. We can all help by conserving this precious resource.