New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition Launch Youth, Indigenous and Frontline Climate Justice Organizers Demand A Just Transition with real, meaningful, & urgent climate action
The New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition (NM NFS) held a launch event in the Rotunda of the NM State Capitol on February 8th, 2023. Prior to the 55th Legislative Session in 2022, several grassroots environmental justice (EJ) groups and climate allies have come together to build solidarity and create a statewide coalition to help guide the advocacy and awareness around a just transition for the State of New Mexico. A primary focus of the coalition is to ensure that unproven climate-mitigation measures that rely on market-based mechanisms and continue our dependence on fossil such as hydrogen, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), and carbon-offsetting schemes are properly critiqued and debunked. These technologies have been pushed by the fossil fuel industry to allow polluters to continue extracting and have proven ineffective in drawing down emissions. The NM NFS Coalition is led by frontline youth, Indigenous, and other impacted community organizations. Additional ally organizations are part of the coalition as well. YUCCA is a founding member and member of the Steering Committee. Learn more at New Mexico No False Solutions (NM NFS) Coalition. On January 26, the Center for Biological Diversity in partnership with the New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition and 50 organizations sent a letter to Governor Michelle Lujan Grishman to promote strong science-based climate legislation that calls to phase out oil and gas production by 2034. This is part of a collective effort to ensure that greenwashing and market-based mechanisms are not the only avenue to achieve real or near-zero emissions.
In order to raise awareness, the NM No False Solutions Coalition initiated a billboard campaign to bring notice to the urgent need for climate action.This billboard is calling for a total investment in the proven green technologies of community-owned renewables.
Others alert the false propaganda for Hydrogen Hubs and the need to protect clean water from oil and gas industries. As our lawmakers travel to and from Santa Fe for this year’s legislative session, YUCCA and our allies hope these billboards remind our elected officials of their responsibility to protect our land, air, and water.
STATEMENTS: “From the worst wildfires in State history - to flooding - to our decades-long megadrought - every New Mexican has already been impacted by a warming climate. The science couldn’t be more precise - now is the time for bold emission reductions and climate crisis mitigation - not 2050 - not 2040 - right now. Inaction by our lawmakers will have devastating ripple effects for generations of New Mexicans.”- Jonathan Juarez-Alonzo, Policy Lead, Youth United for Climate Crisis Action (YUCCA) / Earth Care “Pueblo Action Alliance stands firm against climate strategies aiming to “cut” emissions like carbon and other greenhouse gasses through market-based solutions. We cannot afford the risk of potential policies passing that implement carbon trading and carbon taxes for big polluters as this would not scare off oil and gas production, but further encourage them since they can buy carbon credits to achieve net zero carbon emissions. Capitalist based solutions to mitigate climate change – which does not address climate justice – will not save our communities. The only way to cut carbon emissions is to keep it in the ground and move toward renewable energies. We demand for REAL climate solutions.” -Gracie Aragon, Communications Strategist, Pueblo Action Alliance (PAA) “The future of New Mexico's energy and climate crisis is in the hands of our legislators and we urge them to act on our behalf as their constituents to demand real solutions. We have seven years to address our energy crisis and pave the way for a cleaner and healthier future for the generations to come. The time is now to act on indigenous frontlines demands of fossil fuel clean up and protecting sacred sites within the Four Corners.” -Krystal Curley, Executive Director, Indigenous Lifeways (ILW) “Environmental Justice is Climate Justice! False solutions that continue the contamination of the poor and People of Color lives where we live, work, pray, play and go to school is ultimately criminal. Elected leaders need to stop proposing solutions that make poor people and nations of color the pawns of compromise with corporations and the rich. When will political leaders find the will to act boldly to stop the killing of people and our mother earth and the resources she provides?” -Sofia Martinez, Co-Coordinator, Los Jardines Institute (LJI) “Solar installations demonstrate the tangible economic, environmental, and health benefits for our communities, and prove that the shift away from fossil fuels is not only necessary but possible today. That is why we, along with organizations representing tens of thousands of members, are supporting the Local Choice Energy Act, a small but meaningful legal change that would let local governments and tribes generate or purchase renewable electricity and sell it to us at lower prices. We cannot rely on the same fossil fuel and nuclear extractive economy that destroys our human bonds and our relationship with the land and water - that mindset has brought us to the brink of disaster. Instead of sending profits to Wall Street, Local Choice Energy invests in the resiliency of our communities, provides a reliable, solar and wind alternative - just the kind of solution-oriented possibility that can bring meaningful, healthful, non-toxic jobs, and can spark hope,” -Mariel Nanasi, Executive Director, New Energy Economy (NEE). “It has been a long time coming for New Mexico’s frontline, Indigenous, and land-based peoples to come together. NM NFS is pushing for smart climate policy that centers people and the environment first. Our cultural and historical lifeways are being threatened by the Oil and Gas industry in New Mexico, and it’s time that policy and organizing efforts call out our regional, state, and federal governments for letting enforcement fall by the wayside. NM NFS is here to stay, and say NO to all efforts that continue to prop up this harmful industry; while saying yes to investments in 100% community-owned renewables for our future. We must protect the elements of life.” -Alejandría Lyons, Coalition Coordinator, New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition (NM NFS) “The impacts of climate change and the reliance on false solutions are already being seen in New Mexico. In 2022 alone 904,422 acres (366,007 ha) burned across the state destroying members of our communities homes, historic cultural sites and leaving ecosystems decimated. Our leaders are selling our future for oil and gas executives to profit at the expense of our communities' grief. We have run out of time and must make a just transition to investing in projects that will help our communities adapt and cease the harm caused by oil and gas.” -ikiyA Collective “Lawmakers are playing smallball when New Mexico needs the biggest climate paradigm shift of our lifetimes. Our state is home to a big piece of the world’s largest carbon bomb, but our leaders aren’t even trying to put out the fuse. Any plan to protect New Mexico’s climate and public health has to include real plans to rapidly phase out oil and gas.” -Gail Evans, Center for Biological Diversity “As Mother Earth continues to warm and climate change edges closer to the point of no return, our obligation to abide by our first agreements to protect her and all living things must also be amplified with action. The No False Solutions Coalition is a great example of this amplification and putting those agreements back into action. In order to address climate change at scale, it will take communities coming together, like this coalition. The Indigenous Environmental Network is excited with the announcement of this coalition and we welcome them in the fight to protect the sacredness of our Mother Earth.” -Thomas Joseph (Hoopa) Carbon Policy Educator Indigenous Environmental Network “Climate Justice Alliance stands firmly with our frontline base-building member, New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition, as they fight for their rights to self determination, due process, and most importantly Free, Prior, and Informed Consent. This coalition represents the broad coalition of knowledge holders that can bring forth a Just Transition away from extractive economies into regenerative economies that are more just and resilient to the climate crisis. Now is the time to elevate the voices of those whose firsthand experiences with environmental injustices will lead us to the real climate solutions.” -Esteban Arenas-Pino, Policy Associate, Climate Justice Alliance "New Mexico faces an onslaught of false solutions, such as Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), hydrogen, and gas pipelines. As an organization led by young and Indigenous people facing these projects on the frontlines, New Mexico No False Solutions (NMNFS) will be a critical addition to the fight to defend the state's land, water, communities, and air. NMNFS joins a long history of struggle for environmental and climate justice in the state and across the country. The coalition has already offered visionary community-based solutions that address the root causes of climate change and is leading by example in standing unequivocally against technofixes to climate crisis." -Margaret Kwateng, Green New Deal National Organizer Grassroots Global Justice Alliance “In a state where environmental racism has historically been defined by the life-cycle of violence and harm caused by polluting industries such as uranium mining, nuclear weapons and radioactive waste, it is outrageous that governments would invite more deadly corporate schemes like CCS, hydrogen fuels and carbon markets to threaten the lives of Indigenous communities and communities of color on the frontlines of the ecological crisis. We call on all peoples to rally around the No False Solutions coalition - to put public need ahead of corporate greed!” -Jose Bravo, Executive Director Just Transition Alliance
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