Today, four northwest New Mexico community groups, along with the Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (CCAE), joined an appeal to the state’s Supreme Court challenging the rejection of a merger between PNM Resources and Avangrid, a global leader in renewable energy.
Prominent community and conservation groups today responded to ongoing legislative maneuvering to promote fossil-fueled hydrogen in New Mexico with taxpayer subsidies The New Mexico House Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee tabled the Hydrogen Hub Development Act (HB4) due to…
Environmental, Community, Tribal, Faith Grassroots Groups Celebrate SANTA FE, N.M. (Jan. 10, 2022) — The New Mexico Supreme Court today rejected New Energy Economy’s challenges to the constitutionality of the Energy Transition Act (ETA) and upheld the New Mexico Public…
The choice between continued coal power or equitable transition at San Juan Generating Station There is nothing enchanting about Enchant Energy’s proposal to continue burning dirty coal and emitting pollutants in the Four Corners long into the future. Enchant proposes…
Expose Enchant Energy – We need your voice in asking the Farmington BLM to do a comprehensive environmental analysis of this project that includes thorough public participation.
Enchant Energy is a company that seeks to continue burning coal at the San Juan Generating Station outside of Farmington, NM after it closes in Summer 2022.
The accelerating transition from coal-fired electricity to renewables is great news for the climate, but poses tough economic challenges to dependent communities like Farmington and Shiprock, New Mexico. After decades of a local economy linked to the jobs around mining…
A Montana judge recently ruled the head of the Bureau of Land Management had illegally served as the agency’s director for more than a year. That’s a big deal, seeing as it is the nation’s largest land manager. In Colorado,…
While much of the country grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, it’s full speed ahead at the Department of Interior approving oil and gas development projects. One of the most contentious is a proposal for over 3,000 new oil and gas…
Today the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) approved the abandonment of San Juan Generating Station, a ruling long in the works after months of painful legal back-and-forth. This decision paves the way for Public Service Company of New Mexico…
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…
Is it everything we hope for? No, but it is undoubtedly a significant step forward. We’ll continue to use all the tools we have to fight for permanent protections in the region. Check out the full press release below with…
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…
We’ve been working to protect Greater Chaco from rampant and unchecked oil and gas development for over a decade. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has long failed to conduct any sort of meaningful tribal consultations or robust environmental or cultural resource…
In New Mexico, oil and gas operations release more than 1 million metric tons of methane every year into the atmosphere. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, this has the same short-term impacts as 22 coal-fired power plants or 28…
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…
Photo: Wildearth Guardians Even a court ruling doesn’t seem to deter the Bureau of Land Management in Farmington. They are determined to push through industry wish lists, undermining environmental review, public input, and even the courts. We’ll continue calling them…
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…
Photo: Rob Zeigler It’s certainly promising, if not surprising, that Department of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is making promises to protect Greater Chaco. We’re grateful to Senator Heinrich for playing a key role in orchestrating Bernhardt’s visit to Chaco Cultural…
Photo: Robert Zeigler Earlier this month a federal appeals court granted Greater Chaco a a long-overdue reprieve from unchecked fracking in response to a lawsuit we filed with our partners. The courts decision directly overturned a couple dozen permits, but we…
This is great news! Momentum in our decade-long effort to protect Greater Chaco from unbridled (and illegal) oil and gas development is finally resulting in real gains. Back in 2015, along with our partners, we filed a lawsuit against the…
Real progress is being made toward protecting Greater Chaco! Last month a Congressional visit welcomed lawmakers to the region to learn about the impacts of oil and gas development and the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act was re-introduced. At the…
Anyone who has traveled the U.S. Highway 550 corridor to Albuquerque recently knows for themselves the extent of greatly expanded drilling activity. Advances in fracking technology have unlocked access to oil deposits tightly trapped in the Mancos and Gallup shale…
We were thrilled to welcome members of Congress to Chaco to experience the incredible landscape, learn about the history, and hear from impacted community members firsthand. We are confident they now have a deeper understanding of the issues here and…
More than 92% of Greater Chaco has already been leased. Over the last several years, this leasing has moved forward despite the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) not having a plan in place to protect modern native communities, their history,…
“This lease sale is just another example of the BLM putting the cart before the horse. We’ve been waiting for years for the BLM to complete its Resource Management Plans for the Greater Chaco. But the agency continues to allow…
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…
San Juan Citizens Alliance is actively working to move New Mexico forward to a sustainable energy economy. We believe an important step towards this desired future, especially for us in Northwestern New Mexico, is the passage of Senate Bill 489,…
The Energy Transition Act will reduce electricity costs for New Mexicans, leverage affordable clean energy, and provide economic relief to the Four Corners. Today, a coalition of New Mexico labor, community, and environmental organizations celebrated the passage by the…
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…
It’s time to speak out in defense of Greater Chaco again. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Farmington and Rio Puerco field offices in northwestern New Mexico continue to allow oil and gas companies to frack without a plan in…
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…
We who live in these parts sometimes call it the Four Corners, other times the San Juan Basin or even the Colorado Plateau. It’s reflective of the geographic flexibility of our home region, one that water and air easily transcends….
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…
Photo: Ecoflight As a longtime resident of Farmington, where the impacts of oil and gas are felt daily, I am writing to set the record straight concerning a double drilling rule change that Houston-based Hilcorp Energy is proposing before the…
Hilcorp tried to sneak through a rule change that would double the drilling density in San Juan and Rio Arriba Counties in New Mexico – without public input or analysis of impacts. You may have heard we’ve been making a…
The era of coal is over. We must demand a just transition for impacted families and communities now. APS, having profited billions from the hardworking families and communities of northwestern New Mexico, has a responsibility to help fund that transition….
Photo: Rob Zeigler Last spring, Secretary Zinke instructed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to defer a lease sale in the Greater Chaco region due to a need for “more study.” This December, they plan to auction those same parcels…
Zinke’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will hold a lease sale in Greater Chaco this December, despite failing to conduct tribal consultations they deemed necessary when cancelling the much smaller March 2018 lease in the region. Along with our partners,…
Photo: Ecoflight Northwestern New Mexico is at a crossroads. Like many communities throughout history, the foundation of our economy is based on a soon-to-be outdated industry. We can choose to become victims of change and progress or we can choose…
As most of you know, the Alliance has been working for over a decade to secure greater protections for Greater Chaco – it’s water, air, cultural resources and the health and safety of native communities living there today. We have…
The road for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) methane waste rule has been long and winding, and unfortunately we’re not at the end. Last week, however, we threw a big wrench in Secretary Zinke’s never-ending attempts to rollback this…
Last night, we heard news we didn’t dare hope for: Secretary Zinke canceled next week’s oil and gas lease sale in Greater Chaco. This is because of you. You and thousands of others who spoke up and said drilling without a…
This fall, over 175,000 people commented against a proposed delay of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) methane rule, a rule that is particularly important for those of us under the Four Corners Methane Hotspot and suffer the royalty losses,…
Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issuing a one-year delay of the BLM methane regulations, pushing aside 175,000 public comments, a vast majority of westerners, and the public interest of New Mexico. Read the full press release below, learn…
Photo: EcoFlight While other coal plants in the region are announcing early closures, due in large part to the low cost of renewables, the 55-year-old Four Corners Power Plant was issued a whopping 25-year permit extension in 2015. As you may remember,…
The San Juan Generating Station and San Juan Mine coal complex (SJGS/SJM) is New Mexico’s single largest polluter. While the facilities provide electricity to 500,000 customers, and employ several hundred of our community members, they do so at a great…
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…
This is our last chance to submit scoping comments on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) plan for oil and gas leasing in Greater Chaco. The BLM is telling us they don’t have a choice, that they have to lease: This is…
By Mike Eisenfeld, Energy & Climate Programs Director Last week, I attended the full, four-hour Farmington, NM City Council meeting. The Farmington Electric Utility System (FEUS) and their consultant, NewGen, presented to the Council. The City hired NewGen for 200,000…
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….
On Tuesday, four Navajo Nation chapter presidents, impacted community members, and one NM State Representative met with State Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Amy Lueders. The group requested a cancellation of the January 2017 oil and gas lease sale…
Chaco just got a huge break. Friday afternoon, Saddle Butte San Juan Midstream LLC (“Saddle Butte”) withdrew their proposal for the Piñon Gathering System Project, better know as the Piñon Pipeline, in northwest New Mexico. The 150-mile pipeline would have carried 50,000 barrels per…
This is getting ridiculous. This week, with many partners, we submitted our protest to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Farmington Field Office’s January 2017 oil and gas lease sale – a lease sale that shouldn’t be happening in the first place….
In 2014 we (the San Juan Basin) became the national methane hotspot. Last month we had a huge win in curbing the hotspot with the passing of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s methane standards… and they’re already under attack. But before…
Today we filed a motion to intervene in the case recently brought against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) methane rule. The rule would protect the climate, public health, and our economy. It would also help address the Four Corners methane hotspot….
Today, the Obama Administration released the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) methane rule, aimed at curbing natural gas waste on public and tribal lands. It’s a win-win regulation. The standard will help to end the waste of valuable public resources,…
Today, the Obama Administration released the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) methane rule, aimed at curbing natural gas waste on public and tribal lands. It’s a win-win regulation. The standard will help to end the waste of valuable public resources,…
What changed? Right now, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Farmington Field Office (FFO) is amending its 2003 Resource Management Plan (RMP) to include new industrial fracking in Greater Chaco. The process recently reopened for official public comment until December…
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Farmington Field Office has agreed that their 2003 Resource Management Plan (RMP) does not sufficiently plan for fracking around Chaco Canyon. Yet, while they amend their RMP to reflect this awareness, they are still approving…
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…
This week we received evidence of a local public servant sacrificing the public interest for personal gain. Federal investigators released results of their inquiry into Steve Henke’s conduct while head of New Mexico’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Farmington Field…
The oil and gas industry is awfully, dangerously, predictable. This week, in response to NASA fingering oil and gas operations as the primary cause of the infamous Four Corners methane hot spot, industry shills did what industry shills do: distort…
Today NASA published a report that confirms the energy industry, primarily the natural gas extraction industry, is responsible for the Four Corners methane hotspot. The Four Corners methane hotspot is yet another environmental climate and public health disaster served to our…
Yesterday, Chaco got a moment to breathe. BLM’s Farmington Field Office announced it would not auction parcels in Greater Chaco for fracking leases as planned in October. This is the third time the sale of these three parcels has been postponed….
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 Bureau of Land Management in Farmington, NM hasn’t updated it’s 2003 Resource Management Plan (RMP) since horizontal fracking technologies became viable in the Four Corners. Currently, they are revising the RMP to reflect these new technologies. Yet, at the…
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,…
Apparently some decisions are more final than others. Along with our partners, we have long demanded the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) halt all fracking in the Greater Chaco region, at least until an adequate management plan is in place…
BLM deferred the sale of three oil and gas lease parcels near Chaco Canyon … again. It’s the third time. The deferment is a huge win, and it clearly illustrates the need for the BLM to complete its ongoing Resource Management Plan Amendment. As…
“This path must be paved with common sense policy changes that address our near-term climate challenges, aid coal-dependent communities to help them emerge from transition more sustainable and prosperous, defend taxpayers and the broader American interest, and protect our legacy of public lands.” In…
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…
Hey all, there is a really important meeting on Tuesday, February 16th in Farmington that we want you to know about. It’s from 1-4 pm, which we know is hard for a lot of people. If you can make it,…
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,…
For immediate release: Sept. 17, 2015 Media Contacts: Allyson Siwik, Gila Resources Information Project, 575-590-7619, allysonsiwik@gmail.com Mike Eisenfeld, San Juan Citizens Alliance, 505-360-8994, mike@sanjuancitizens.org Rachel Conn, Amigos Bravos, 575.770.8327, rconn@amigosbravos.org Eleanor Bravo, Food and Water Watch, 505-633-7366, ebravo@fwwatch.org Liliana Castillo,…
The Alliance has been working to protect the Greater Chaco region from unchecked and unplanned oil and gas development for years. Our request to halt all drilling in the Greater Chaco region while our lawsuit makes its way through the courts was…
