NEW MEXICO’S LEADERS MUST PROTECT US FROM THE HARMS OF FOSSIL FUELS

Over the past decade, New Mexico’s leaders have promoted unchecked oil and gas production, creating pollution crisis in our state. Now, they are doubling down on false solutions that prolong fossil fuel dependence, with grievous consequences for New Mexico. Runaway oil and gas production:

  • Harms our health

  • Threatens our land, air and water

  • Destroys sacred landscapes and cultural resources

  • Fuels the climate crisis

  • Threatens our future

Our leadership has the power to change course now.

We, the undersigned, urge New Mexico’s governor and legislators to protect New Mexicans’ health, land, air, water and future. We support common-sense policies to ensure a healthy, prosperous future for all New Mexicans:

Establish one-mile children’s health zones around schools statewide: Currently, about 33,000 children attend school within a mile of a fracking well, exposing them to toxic pollution while in the classroom. The State must ensure children are safe while at school by passing a law to ban fracking wells within one mile of schools.

Prohibit the reuse of toxic fracking waste off the oilfield: Right now, the governor and industry are pushing to reuse toxic fracking waste off the oilfield, even though there’s no scientific evidence that it’s safe. Scientists are just beginning to understand the toxicity of produced water. Its harmful effects on our people, land and water may not be realized for years — or even generations. By that time, it’ll be too late to undo the damage. The State must prohibit the reuse of fracking waste off the oilfield.

Require industry polluters to clean up their unplugged wells and other abandoned oil and gas infrastructure: The Oil Conservation Division of the state of New Mexico has a legal duty to ensure that operators clean up their mess. As fossil fuels are phased out, defunct oil and gas infrastructure poses a growing threat to our land, water and air. Industry has strewn dirty extraction, transportation, storage and refining equipment across our state. New Mexicans cannot be left to shoulder this financial and health burden. The State must hold industry accountable to clean up the messes they’ve made. It’s time for New Mexico to enforce the law, not foot the bill.