Advocacy

Action Needed on Climate Solutions for Birds and People

House Bill 9

Two years ago, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the Energy Transition Act, committing the state to a fifty percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and setting the goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2045. Climate change is among the greatest threats to New Mexico’s birds and people, resulting in frequent and extreme wildfires, increased aridity, and unpredictable severe weather events. These impacts are felt most strongly by rural and indigenous communities, and it’s these same people who are most vulnerable as we transition away from extractive industries like gas and oil and toward a cleaner energy future. For these reasons, we are thrilled that the New Mexico has introduced House Bill 9, the Climate Solutions Act. 

Take Action Today – Tell your Representatives that you support the Climate Solutions Act!

The first of its kind in the nation, the Climate Solutions Act codifies into law pieces of Governor Grisham’s Energy Transition Act while not losing sight of the state’s economy or the communities most affected by the impacts of climate change and the efforts required to mitigate them. The bill both sets ambitious goals for carbon reduction and creates a framework to protect New Mexico’s environment, advance new technologies, and enhance the economy through the creation of new jobs and industries.

Within this forward-thinking, science-based legislation are provisions that will:

  • Establish state greenhouse gas emission standards, maintaining the goal of reducing emissions by fifty percent by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050
  • Add a new goal of reducing methane and carbon emissions from the oil and gas sectors by sixty percent by 2030, as compared to 2005 levels
  • Create a new advisory climate council of state agency Cabinet secretaries tasked with working with local communities to create jobs, provide trainings, and develop a tax base to ease the transition away from fossil fuels
  • Require state agencies to issue and implement both climate and economic development goals
  • Support tribal, rural, and disproportionately impacted communities in an effort to ensure equitable access to new clean energy jobs

Protect New Mexico’s Birds and Communities from the worst impacts of climate change – voice your support for the Climate Solutions Act today!

As we saw through the unprecedented die-off of migratory birds observed last fall in New Mexico and across the Southwest, climate change threatens the future of wild birds – and our human communities are no different.  To ensure a future in which both birds and people thrive, we must take action today.

Thank you for taking climate action by supporting New Mexico House Bill 9, the Climate Solutions Act.

(Sometimes, a phone call can go much further than an email! Take the next step by using this link to find contact information for your district’s Representatives and give them a call!)

Yours in Conservation,
Audubon Southwest
1800 Upper Canyon RoadSanta Fe, NM 87501

505.983.4609

nm.audubon.org
az.audubon.org

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