Show Us Your Love this Valentine's Day!

Please join us for our next Membership Meeting on Monday February 12 at 7PM. Learn about what was accomplished and what you can still do as this year's legislative session ends.

Please join us for our next Executive Committee Meeting on Monday March 4 at 7PM. That's when we will plan our April Membership Meeting, and we would love your input.

At the start of the session, the Legislative Action Working Group of the EJC monitored legislation that would impact – for good or bad – environmental justice. 

The hope we had in mid-January went off the rails quickly because so many of the bills filed that would have been effective in combatting the climate crisis and supporting environmental justice went nowhere.

We started off with a list of about 250 promising bills, joint resolutions, and memorials. Here are the ones that remain alive with a key to their status at this writing:

KEY:

·       PH means passed the House

·       HC means on House Calendar

·       PBH means passed House and Senate

·       PASS means no further action is needed

·       SFC means Senate Finance Committee

·       SCONC means Senate Conservation Committee.

·       SC means Senate Calendar

·       PS means Passed Senate

HRDLC House Rural Dev, Land Grants and Cultural Affairs

HTPWC House Transportation, Public Works Committee

                                                                                                                Bill            Status

HB41 CLEAN TRANSPORTATION FUEL STANDARDS                     PH SFC

HB48            OIL AND GAS ROYALTY RATES                                               PH

HB148         WATER PROJECT FUND PROJECTS                                      PH SC

HB177         NMMATCH FUND                                                                       PH SC

HB91           GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES PROJECT FUNDS                    PH

HB209         REGIONAL COUNCIL FUND MATCH REQUIREMENT            PH SC

HB232          INFRASTR PLANNING & DEV DIVISION                                  PH-SFC

HB211          WATER PROJECT PRIORIZATION                                           PH SCONC

HB29           PUBLIC PROJECT FUND APPROPRIATIONS                          PH SFC

SB169          LAND & WATER CONSERVATION FUND CHANGES              PS HRDLC

SB300          TRANSPORTATION PROJECT BONDS                                    PS HTPWC

SB216          NMFA AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS                            SC

SM8             OIL AND GAS FACILITY SETBACK STUDY                               SC

HJM14        SMOKEY BEAR DAY                                                                 PBH/PASS

Our work does not end when the Legislative Session ends. If you have any questions or want to participate, please contact Alex at alexdaviking@yahoo.com.

The Senate Rules Committee tabled the Green Amendment. Those who voted to table included Democrats. This was a lethal blow in this session for a constitutional amendment that would explicitly give us all a right to a clean environment. If this amendment passes the legislature, all New Mexican voters would have the option to vote amending the NM constitution.

The following denied your opportunity to vote on your future:

Katy M. Duhigg, Democrat, Chair

Leo Jaramillo, Democrat

Greg Nibert, Republican

Gregory A. Baca, Republican

Mark Moores, Republican

Gerald Ortiz y Pino, Democrat

Cliff R. Pirtle, Republican

Mimi Stewart, Democrat

The following championed your opportunity to vote:

Linda M. López, Democrat

Brenda G. McKenna, Democrat

Elizabeth "Liz" Stefanics, Democrat

Please click on the name of the senator in blue and express your opinion on their vote.

Despite massive community protest, the Los Lunas City Council voted to grant Niagara the right to extract considerably more water from the aquifer. The Council decision did not take into account the environmental impact that this will have on the citizens. Having a green amendment would have enabled the community to take further action to stop this horrendous decision.

It was our pleasure to join the Transit Equity folks at the Roundhouse as these young people spoke to their representatives about important transportation bills. Transit Equity is an active and legislatively knowledgeable local and part of the Labor Network for Sustainability. Their mission is to have an affordable public transit system that reliably connects people in all communities to the places we need to travel: home, work, school, places of worship.

Thank you, Sierra Club for organizing such an important day at the Roundhouse . . . and even providing lunch.

We so appreciate all the work Sierra Club does and its openness to other organizations such as the EJC.

The Global Warming Express of students from local elementary schools was a major hit at the Roundhouse, explaining why we have to take action to face the Climate Emergency NOW.

We enjoyed meeting many Democrats who were unaware of the EJC. WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!

The Transportation and Housing Working Group meeting has been cancelled this month. The next meeting will be in March.

Meetings of this working group are on Zoom every month on the fourth Wednesday at 7PM The next meeting date is Mar 27.

Meetings of this working group are on Zoom every month on the third Monday at 7PM The next meeting date is Feb 19. Contact Zlata for more information. z7nourie@gmail.com

Please watch Zlata's exclusive interview with Bernalillo County Commissioner Eric Olivas below.