FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: New Mexico Climate Justice Advocates Denounce Lujan Grisham’s Strategic Water Supply
SANTA FE, NM – Indigenous, frontline, youth and environmental groups held a press conference at the State Capitol today to voice their opposition to the Lujan-Grisham Administration’s investment plan to seek a $500 million investment during the 2024 Legislative Session to create a “Strategic Water Supply” (SWS). Through the SWS, the state will purchase treated wastewater from the oil and gas industry and use it for hydrogen production.
Governor Lujan-Grisham announced the SWS investment after her trip to COP28 in Dubai, where she was the only US state governor to attend the conference. “The governor is continuing to push a hydrogen agenda that the broader environmental community has opposed and wasting $500 million dollars for a proposal that pushes us away from investments in real climate and water resiliency solutions that are safe,” said Julia Bernal, the Executive Director of Pueblo Action Alliance. “The New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition has made several attempts to hold conversations with Governor Lujan-Grisham about our concerns relating to false solutions like hydrogen energy production that use fossil fuels and wastewater and exacerbate the climate crisis.”
In 2020, former Speaker of the House Brian Egolf, who sponsored the 2019 Produced Water Act, provided comment on the proposed amendments to the Oil Conservation Commission’s Rules for Produced Water stating, “I urge [the government] ensure that none of the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to House Bill 546 inadvertently allow or purport to permit any use, application, or discharge of produced water outside of oil and gas operations. The people of New Mexico will be best served by the adoption of stringent regulations of produced water that put public health and safety first and clearly state that any use of produced water outside of oil and gas operations is prohibited. At this time, I am unaware of any safe, fully-researched application for produced water outside of oil and gas operations.”
During Monday’s press conference, New Energy Economy with other groups released a report titled “Bleeding New Mexico Dry: The Truth Behind Governor Lujan Grisham’s Strategic Water Supply” that chronicles the relationship between the SWS and a public policy agenda and economic vision for New Mexico being codesigned by industry and Democratic leadership.
“A true climate leader does not co-opt a Just Transition and divert public funds to prolong an extractive economy and incentivize the use of oil and gas waste for false solutions like green hydrogen,” said Ennedith Lopez, Policy Manager for Youth United for Climate Crisis Action. “Michelle Lujan Grisham plans on requesting 500 million dollars of New Mexican tax dollars to secure private investments for corporate interest, not for what the people need. She was elected to actively work on the issues that impact our frontline and overburdened communities, not to secure another market for the same corporations responsible for polluting our scarce water resources in the first place.”
Banners with messages read, “Don’t believe the hydrogen hype!”, “Warning: Produced Water”, “$500 million bail out to repackage & sell toxic oil & gas waste as “water”? HELL NO!” and “Stop C02lonialism” and were held by coalition members and allies.
During her state of the state address, the Governor asked the Legislature for $500 million for the SWS in Severance Tax Bonds. The New Mexico No False Solution Coalition is calling upon legislators to refuse this budgetary request and instead direct state funding towards real, proven climate solutions like the Local Solar Access Fund (House Bill 108), just transition for workers, and phasing out the fossil fuel industry.
Additional Statements:
“Fracking waste disposal is a problem without a solution. While financial pressure from the O&G industry is mounting to find opportunities for the conversion of toxic and radioactive fracking waste there is NO scientifically proven beneficial re-use.The Lujan Grisham administration is playing Russian Roulette with our lives.”
Mariel Nanasi, Executive Director, New Energy Economy
“We can not continue to have our leaders misguide our people to the tomb by dirty greenwashed investment that proceeds in the commodification of the sacred. We recommend the MLG Administration uphold and value the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and codify Free, Prior, & Informed Consent proceedings to ensure Indigenous people of New Mexico have just decision making power when creating solutions to climate change. The use of toxic produced water and brackish water for green hydrogen will have detrimental impacts to our waterways, land, air and wellbeing. This is not a solution to our climate crisis.”
Krystal Curley, Executive Director, Indigenous Lifeways
“Instead of spending half a billion dollars on expensive and unproven treatment of oil and gas waste to subsidize water-intensive industries in an arid state, leadership should be incentivizing efforts that are actually appropriate for New Mexico’s water scarcity.”
Melissa Troutman, Climate & Energy Advocate, WildEarth Guardians
“The Sovereign State of New Mexico is failing to fund and staff the basics of 21st century water management for our much more arid future. This project is totally unplanned and speculative at a time the Governor and the Legislature are not meeting the critical basic needs of New Mexico for water security. Without water security, there is no economic security.”
Norm Gaum, Retired Engineer
“This is an appalling waste of taxpayer money and New Mexicans won’t be fooled by the governor’s greenwashing. We should call produced water what it really is: toxic waste. Instead of spending half a billion dollars to buy the oil and gas industry’s waste, the administration should make them re-use it and stop wasting precious fresh water in fracking.”
Silas Grant, New Mexico Campaigner, Center for Biological Diversity
Contact:
Julia Bernal, Executive Director, Pueblo Action Alliance, (505) 220-0051, julia@puebloactionalliance.org
Alejandria Lyons, New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition, (505) 903-3383, nmnofalsesolutions@gmail.com
Ennedith Lopez, Youth United for Climate Crisis Action, (505) 226-4994, ennedith@earthcarenm.org