Political

Open this story for endorsement information on U.S. Congressional District 1 in the 2012 Democratic Primary.

To learn about the Sierra Club's endorsement for the U.S. Senate seat in New Mexico for 2012, open this story.

Multiple attacks on clean air, water, climate at New Mexico Legislature session are all unsuccessful

By Dan Lorimier, RG Chapter lobbyist
During the last two years of Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration in New Mexico, key environmental and public health rules were adopted to protect New Mexico’s citizens and natural resources. Two examples are the carbon cap-and-trade regulations set to start in 2012 and the new dairy waste-discharge regulations that are ready to go into effect now.

Sierra Club members weighed-in to support clean air and clean water during the 2011 New Mexico Legislature. Club members sent 1000's of e-mails to their NM Senators and Representatives to urge them to vote for or against legislation that would have a direct impact on clean air and water. During this year's session, club members communicated about 12 bills. Of these 12 bills, 11 of those bills had outcomes supported by our members.

Sierra Club volunteers spent thousands of hours in candidate support activities such as door-to-door canvassing and phone banking. Also, the Sierra Club sent four e-mails to 24,000 recipients to get out the vote and to promote our endorsements.

Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club endorsements for 2010 election are shown below, with winners highlighted in bold letters.

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.

President Barack Obama
Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar
U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman
U.S. Senator Tom Udall
U.S. Representative Martin Heinrich (Dist. 1)

U.S. Representative Ben R. Luján (Dist. 3)

The Rio Grande Chapter has gained a significant legislative victory with the passage of SB200 Energy Efficient Public Building Standards sponsored by Senator Carlos Cisneros. Governor Bill Richardson signed this bill into law on March 9.

The top legislative priority for the 2010 legislative session is passing the public building energy efficency bill, which would require a 50% reduction of energy usage for new public buildings.

The Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club is seeking permanent protection of Otero Mesa from oil and gas development, through BLM administrative options and through federal legislation.