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News
New Mexico Media Outlets
Peddle Pseudoscience for State Department of Health - by Dr. Ken
Stoller
How to Prevent Corporate
Lobbyists from Destroying Your Health and Welfare - by Stephen Fox
The Renewable Energy
Legislative Agenda - by Ben Luce
Sierra Club 2007 Legislative
Priorities Focus on Cleaner Energy - by Tom Robey
Legislative Priorities
of CVNM and New Mexico’s Conservation Community - by Leanne Leith
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Legislative
Priorities of CVNM and New Mexico’s Conservation Community
by Leanne Leith
Each year, Conservation Voters New Mexico works with a broad coalition
of environment-related organizations throughout the state to develop
conservation priorities for the New Mexico Legislature.
In 2007, thousands of bills will be introduced. But the top priorities
of CVNM and the conservation community are the Land, Wildlife and Clean
Energy Act and the New Mexico Environmental Health Act.
The Land, Wildlife and Clean Energy Act will remedy a dramatic shortage
of funding for communities working to conserve our land and wildlife
and invest in clean energy projects. We lag far behind other states
in this respect: Arkansas generates approximately $52 million each year
to fund wildlife and nature projects, and Missouri dedicates $75 million
each year to land and wildlife programs – in addition to any funding
for state agencies working in these issue areas.
New Mexico dedicates no money to land and wildlife or clean energy projects
outside of state agency funding, despite the strong public support for
such programs. As a result, we lose out on up to $20 million each year
in federal, local and private matching funds that could be used to protect
critical wildlife habitat, family farms and ranches, increased outdoor
recreation opportunities and solar, wind, biomass and other clean energy
projects.
The proposed legislation will dedicate a percentage of taxes already
collected from oil and gas development – approximately $9.6 million
per year – to funding projects that conserve our land and wildlife
and invest in clean energy. The result will be better protection of
New Mexico’s beauty for us, for our children, and for generations
to come.
Another priority for our state’s conservation community is the
New Mexico Environmental Health Act. Currently, lower-income neighborhoods
and communities of color suffer disproportionately from polluting industries.
This measure would help protect communities from concentrations of polluting
facilities by requiring an assessment of the impacts of proposed facilities
on particular communities. The legislation includes consideration of
the cumulative impacts of existing and proposed facilities, as well
as the ability for citizens and communities to have a stronger voice
with respect to local facilities that would impact human and environmental
health.
In addition to the Land, Wildlife and Clean Energy Act and the NM Environmental
Health Act, CVNM and our conservation allies will be fighting to ensure
sustainable water supplies and healthy rivers for all New Mexicans.
Governor Richardson has declared 2007 to be the Year of Water, and CVNM
is committed to making sure that means more than just damming our rivers,
piping our precious water and pumping our vulnerable aquifers.
Of the thousands of bills that will be introduced this session, many
will have dire consequences for our air, land and water. CVNM takes
the lead on protecting our environment by fighting these measures. Among
the challenges we are expecting will be efforts to undermine the state’s
ability to regulate polluters, weaken the laws that protect our rivers
and groundwater, and provide tax cuts to toxic industries. As always,
CVNM will be there to fight any and all of these measures – and
we hope you will join us.
Conservation Voters New Mexico, a nonpartisan, non-profit 501c(4) organization,
works to protect New Mexico’s natural environment and our cherished
way of life. Our mission is to make sensible conservation policies
a top priority for elected officials, political candidates, and voters
across the state. We do this by:
· Educating legislators and the public on critical conservation
issues;
· Lobbying on behalf of pro-conservation legislation;
· Holding legislators accountable for decisions that impact the
environment; and
· Endorsing and electing pro-conservation candidates to public
office.
For more information, visit our web site at www.cvnm.org
or call us at (505) 992-VOTE or (505) 992-8683.
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