Since 1987, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center has worked every day to protect New Mexico's water, land and air from toxic pollution; and to assist its many and diverse communities protect their environment.
KSFR Talks to Eric Jantz About Pit Rule, Jobs and Groundwater
The Santa Fe Radio Cafe talks to Staff Attorney Eric Jantz about New Mexico’s economy, uranium mining and the upcoming Pit Rule appeal on Dec. 10th.
Listen now:
NM Regulators Approve Gas Emissions Cap
“The Environmental Improvement Board voted 4-1 in favor of the petition by New Energy Economy, which calls for large polluters such as coal-fired power plants and refineries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 3 percent per year from 2010 levels.“ The Washington Post
Learn more about the New Mexico Greenhouse Gas Emission Caps case.
Western Climate Initiative Moves Forward, Smaller Than Imagined
“In New Mexico, time nearly ran out. The same day the board OK’d the rules, Republican Susana Martinez, who is skeptical about man-made global warming and opposes cap and trade, was elected governor. The new board she picks “will be hostile—almost certainly—to climate regulation,“ says Bruce Frederick, a lawyer with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center.“ High Country News
KSFR Interviews NMELC on Threats to Roll Back State Environmental Rules
There’s concern among environmentalists in New Mexico that the incoming Martinez administration will roll back some of the rules and controls placed on such businesses as the drilling industry. One of these is the so-called Pit Rule. The state’s current rule requires oil drillers to use more efficient liners in open pits where waste from drilling is dumped. And in some cases, the waste has to be hauled away. The issue is going to court in a few days to hear industry’s appeal of the rule. Managers in the current administration are preparing for that hearing and so is the New Mexico Environmental Law Center. We asked lawyer Bruce Frederick of the law center to bring us up to date on the issue.
Listen to interview.
Learn more about the New Mexico Oil and Gas Pit Regulation appeal case.
High Court Declines Uranium Review
It is also the first time “that the NRC has issued a license for mining in a high-quality drinking water aquifer, despite the fact that no ISL mines have ever been reclaimed to pre-mining condition,” Eric Jantz, center attorney, said. Indian Country Today
Learn more about the Hydro Resources, Inc. uranium mines case.
Closing Arguments Filed in N.M. Emissions Case
“Our plan is a state-only program, it’s less complicated, it’s not contingent on third parties, and it won’t be subject to as many challenges as the state program,“ [Bruce] Frederick said. Albuquerque Journal
Learn more about the New Mexico Greenhouse Gas Emissions Caps case.