A Visit to Capitol Hill on National IPL Lobby Day

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By Cynthia Gonzalez and Rev. Clara Sims

We had a busy day on Wednesday, May 8, meeting with four congressional offices. We met with the staff from the offices of Senator Ben Ray Lujan, Senator Martin Heinrich, Representatives Gabe Vasquez and Theresa Ledger Fernandez. Due to conflicts with scheduling, we were not able to meet with the office of Representative Melanie Stansbury, however, were able to stop by and drop off a package with information and in the age of zoom, we look forward to a virtual meeting soon.

The staff at each of the offices were very welcoming. We had positive exchanges with each of the staffers, who listened and acknowledged our concerns. Since they are champions on the issues of climate and environmental justice, we asked for their support on specific bills and initiatives and shared with them about our ongoing work with communities of faith and conscience.

Urging Congress to preserve important EPA standards

A main focus in each meeting was our immediate concern with deployment of the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Congressional Review Acts seek to roll back President Biden’s administrative rules on EPA standards for things such as methane emissions, other air pollutants, and much more. As a recent “State of the Air Report” highlighted, counties across NM and the El Paso region are suffering from worsening air conditions – frontline communities in the Permian and Four Corners region as well as large urban centers like Bernalillo County.

In our meetings, we delivered postcards from community members highlighting the need to protect the EPA. We need an EPA with strong standards so they can not only enforce present rules but also declare where air pollution standards are already being violated across our state and region. We are grateful that all offices shared our concern with protecting these vital administrative rules to protect the immediate and long-term health of our sacred communities.

Supporting US participation in International Climate Finance effort

With a longer time-frame in mind, we also asked our legislators to support the United States participation in International Climate Finance (ICF). As Pope Francis expressed so poignantly in his encyclical letter Laudato Si, our country bears a “disproportionate responsibility” to lead internationally and help communities globally whose lives are already changing drastically due to climate change.

Presently the U.S. is behind on the relatively small financial commitments already made. Not only do these commitments need to be greater in proportion to our financial capacity to provide aid to other countries, we also need to do right by the promises already made.

In each meeting, we shared stories and experiences from communities of faith and conscience across New Mexico and the El Paso region, naming especially our increasing concern for the ways extractivism and New Mexico’s legacy as a “sacrifice zone” for industry interests continues to harm us all. We are grateful that each office shared these concerns and acknowledged the need to learn from and work closely with frontline communities and Tribal Nations especially as we seek healing and justice for our climate and common home.

We appreciate the opportunities we had to meet with the congressional offices and look forward to collaborating in the future on the many ways we are called to be leaders guided by moral integrity and love in action for this sacred creation into which we are woven.

(Cynthia Gonzalez is an IPL New Mexico-El Paso board member from El Paso Texas. Rev. Clara Sims is assistant executive director).

Faith Leaders, IPL Supporters Testify at Hearing on Advanced Clean Vehicle Standards

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The Environmental Improvement Board and Albuquerque Bernalillo Air Quality Board were holding public hearings on Nov. 13-15 to dteremine whether or not to adopt the proposed Advanced Clean Vehicle Standards.

Members of the public had the opportunity to testify on the new standards.  We have compiled from faith leaders and supporters of Interfaith Power & Light New Mexico & El Paso (Sister Joan Brown, John Maddaus, Ruth Striegel, Clara Sims, Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev, Rev. Dr. Rob Woodruff) on this page.

Op-Ed: Clean Cars standards benefit rural New Mexicans

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In support of the Clean Cars and Trucks rulemaking beginning today, this opinion piece by Joseph Hernandez, Indigenous Energy Organizer, Naeva and Susan Nedell, E2 Mountain West Advocate, appeared in both the Farmington Daily Times and the Santa Fe New Mexican (and possibly other newspapers).
Bere ks a excerpt:

We need to take action, and that starts with supporting the state’s clean vehicles initiative in November 13-15 public hearings held by the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board and Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board. 

Transportation pollution ranks second highest in the state behind pollution from the extraction and production of oil and gas. 

This pollution fuels climate change and extreme heat and devastation from wildfires, as well as rising ozone levels—which are high in San Juan County—that exacerbate respiratory diseases, asthma and premature mortality, especially among vulnerable New Mexicans, children, older people and those living near transportation corridors. 

And while some might think clean vehicle standards are just for big cities, the benefits extend well into rural areas like the four corners of our state, including the Farmington area.