Environmental Sustainability & Justice
In Las Cruces, many of our family members, neighbors, and friends face challenging social determinants of health such as racism, poverty and age dependency on a daily basis. Condemning them to endure the impacts of heat, drought, water and air pollution, floods and fire (whether through neglect or economic misadventure) is not only morally wrong, it is an appalling failure of vision. We can and we must do better.
In January 2022, Senator Sedillo Lopez and I introduced a resolution to amend the New Mexico Constitution in order to add enforceable environmental rights. The New Mexico Green Amendment will add to the Bill of Rights a constitutional right to clean air, water and land for a healthy environment. It establishes a clear trustee obligation of our government officials to protect the state’s natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations.
In addition, I was a sponsor of the Community Solar Act, as also for both the Solar and Geothermal Tax Refund Acts. In addition, I supported the Energy Transition Act, which closed coal-sourced energy production in our state and invested in solar and wind. Our economy has already seen the benefits of new and emerging clean energy industries and job growth in this area.
