El Paso Group

By Rebecca Sobel
Executive director, Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (CCAE)

August 30 - Every hour, the sun radiates more energy onto earth than the entire human population uses in one year. That's a lot of solar potential. In New Mexico, we're lucky to have bragging rights to world-class solar resources, ranking second in the nation after Arizona, with potential to provide 1,000 times more energy than Public Service Company of New Mexico's (PNM) current demand.

August 5 - U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today announced that a bill he introduced with Senator Tom Udall to transfer management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service has cleared its first hurdle. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed it.

The Chapter has been strongly supporting the effort by Caldera Action to transfer management of the Valles Caldera from the Valles Caldera Trust to the National Park Service, which has the experience and resources to better manage the Preserve. We are delighted to announce that on May 27, Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall introduced legislation to transfer the management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service.

"By prohibiting traps and snares to protect our beleaguered lobos, Governor Richardson has again shown tremendous leadership to help wolves gain recovery," stated Mary Katherine Ray, Wildlife Chair of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club. "Wolves bring millions of tourism dollars to Yellowstone. Directing the Department of Tourism to examine the potential for wolf tourism in New Mexico will benefit not only our wolves but also the economy of the Gila region and New Mexico," she added.

This spring President Obama created the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative. This weekend leaders from the Department of Interior, Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency met with New Mexicans in Albuquerque to learn about our views of this program. This is my viewpoint on this issue.

• We should all increase our use of the world-class outdoors opportunities that exist here in New Mexico.
• The Federal government should provide new, expanded, and better protected public lands.
• Increase opportunities for youth in the Great Outdoors.
• Support local economies by investing in public lands.
• Manage all public lands to comprehend climate change.

El Paso Group News
• In order to expedite implementation of the Clean Air Act in Texas, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun to remove some permitting authority delegated to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) 16 years ago.

Change the Politics, Not the Climate

More than a year has lapsed since the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454, ACES Act), setting limits on climate change pollution and targets for a shift to clean, renewable electricity nationwide. All eyes have been on the U.S. Senate since then to follow suit with its own clean energy and climate protection plan.