In 2014, our region gained notoriety as the nation’s methane hotspot. Researchers at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration noticed via satellite measurements a plume of methane over the Four Corners that dwarfed anywhere else in the country….
New Mexico and the Four Corners is experiencing a transition that, far from being unique, is mirrored in coal regions across the nation. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the market reality is that coal is being left behind by…
New Mexico recently passed a landmark energy transition bill known as the Energy Transition Act (ETA). The bill was groundbreaking not just for setting an aggressive renewable portfolio standard, but also for creating funding to ensure a just transition for…
For months the City of Farmington has been scheming with a small two-person outfit to keep San Juan Generating Station (SJGS) open past the 2022 closure date agreed upon by all other owners. Their plan is to install expensive Carbon…
Public Meeting on NM Methane Regulations July 29th, 1-5 pm San Juan Community College, IT building -Room 7103 4601 College Blvd, Farmington, NM 87402 Make your voice heard to help enact much needed methane regulation in New Mexico! The…
In just a few weeks, Public Service Co. of New Mexico will initiate the process to officially retire the San Juan Generating Station, the 1,600-megawatt, coal-fired behemoth outside Farmington that once burned coal day and night to generate electricity. It’s…
The Four Corners finds itself in an unprecedented economic landscape and elected officials are choosing to expend valuable time, resources and money pointing fingers and aggressively combatting the entities working to make sure our communities don’t get left behind. The…
Spring is in the air, and with it comes potentially big changes for our electric power supply. Leadership changes abound at both our local rural electric cooperative, La Plata Electric Association, and its wholesale electric supplier, Tri-State Generating and Transmission….
New Mexico just passed one of the most progressive energy transition bills in the country! The Energy Transition Act (ETA), which just passed the house and now heads to the Governor’s desk, paves the way for a just transition to…
Energy 101: Navigating the New Energy Market Saturday, March 23rd 3:15 – 5:45 pm Durango Public Library Renewable energy is now less expensive than coal. This will be a community discussion about how to take advantage of these new…
It is completely indefensible to continue to lease parcels in Greater Chaco to oil and gas without having a plan in place to ensure protections for air, water, public health, and the rich history embedded in the landscape. TheBureau of…
Woot woot! A new Governor in New Mexico along with a host of bold, progressive, new State House representatives, looking to the future and creating opportunities. We’re hopeful we can make big strides in clean energy, a just transition for…
After almost 6 years spent outside of Farmington and San Juan County, it is great to be back in the community I grew up in and will always call home. It is refreshing to experience the kindness I remember being…
Victory! Excellent decision today putting the public back into decisions about our public lands! The New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission took all of 5 minutes to grant a re-hearing on the rule allowing for double drilling in Rio Arriba and…
Elections matter. That fact is being clearly made in New Mexico, where the public voted in a new administration with vastly different values when it comes to our public lands, among other things. We are thrilled that the new administration…
Climate Action Happy Hour Monday, December 10th 5-6:30 pm Carver Brewing, Durango You’re invited to join us and our friends at Conservation Colorado to discuss the future of renewable energy for our region and actions we can take to encourage…
OKTOBER F(or)EST Watershed, Brewshed, Fireshed, & Foodshed October 20th Dolores, Colorado Events all day! See the poster below Community Potluck: 11:30-1:30 We are proud to be a part of this great forest collaborative. Join us for the Community Potluck or…
Come, eat, drink, and learn why we need to elect an active, forward thinking LPEA Board of Directors. Let’s band together to lower rates for everyone with local, renewable energy! DID YOU KNOW? Renewable energy costs in Colorado are now…
Photo courtesy of Thomas Roberts By Guest Blogger: Donna Stewart “With this bellows I will pump the flames of this fire which looks like from Hell, and witches will flee, straddling their brooms…and when this beverage goes down our throats, we…
Photo By: Lt. Zachary West As we stand transfixed by the enormously powerful hurricanes churning across the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, one can’t help but think about our place in the climate-change continuum. Here in the San Juan Basin,…
This week, despite recognizing the disproportionate impact it will have on our children, the Bureau of Land Management and Environmental Protection Agency both postponed the implementation of their methane regulations so they can revisit and rewrite them. Delaying and…
Today, the U.S.House of Representatives put the special interests of big oil and gas companies ahead of the public interest by voting to roll back the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) methane rule. The measure now heads to the Senate….
The greatest concentration of methane in the country floats above us here in the Four Corners. Although we can’t see it, it’s not harmless. In addition to being a powerful greenhouse gas, over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide, it’s released…
The oil and gas industry is no longer exempt from reporting toxic releases publicly through the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). EPA estimates the oil and gas industry releases more toxic chemicals than any other industry, save power plants. Yet, they haven’t been…
It’s easy to overlook what’s happening in oil and gas fields. Most of us don’t live at ground zero and the pollution is often invisible to the human eye. So, last weekend SJCA bussed folks from Durango, CO 45-miles south to Bloomfield, NM. We examined…
Area threatened by existing oil and gas development (yellow) on top of public lands (blue) in Northwest New Mexico. See oilandgasthreatmap.com for interactive map. You can’t drive through Northwest New Mexico and Southwest Colorado and miss our region’s oil…
Today the Environmental Protection Agency finalized standards for dangerous oil and gas methane pollution from new infrastructure. These are the first-ever national safeguards limiting methane waste and pollution and will go far to protect public health, address climate change, and…
The Four Corners Power Plant (FCPP) and Navajo Mine complex is a massive source of pollution. It can’t be permitted to operate until 2041. Learn More. Amid last year’s crumbling coal economy, and despite promises to address climate change, the Obama Administration approved a…
Last week Peabody Coal joined Arch, Alpha, Patriot, and other US companies in bankruptcy. This progression of bankruptcies is raising a myriad of concerns about the financial viability of coal, the future costs of clean up, the dangers of self-bonding,…
This morning President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a pact between the two countries to take climate change head on. They announced intentions to reduce methane pollution from oil and gas industry by 40-45 percent over the…
Great news. Today the BLM released its proposed methane waste rule. We’ve worked on the rule, and advised BLM on its contents, with our partners Western Environmental Law Center and Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment. The rule is 300 pages,…
It is not often enough that we get to celebrate wins in my line work, so today let’s pause to do exactly that. A few weeks ago, San Juan Citizens Alliance and our partners won a hard-fought legal case against…
A few weeks back I was called a bomb-thrower for the content I share in this column. Though this is far from the worst thing I’ve been called in print, it did get me thinking. Is what I write really that…
