On Thursday, health advocates told lawmakers that increasing extreme heat is impacting Indigenous people’s wellbeing and traditional ways of life.
Melissa E. Riley (Mescalero Apache) is the founding board member for Healthy Climate New Mexico but lives in Laguna Pueblo.
“We have not been able to stay out and come out right at sunrise and be able to see and participate in our dancers because of the heat,” she said.
Riley told the Interim Indian Affairs Committee there are very few cooling systems in the Pueblo, which puts people with health conditions at risk during extreme heat.
According to a 2022 report, temperatures are expected to rise five to seven degrees in the next 50 years in different regions of New Mexico.
Riley said shrinking water resources are also hurting communities.
“We don't have as many farmers as we used to, as many ranchers, if we don't have the water source, we don't have the ability to bring what we need to to our cattle,” she said.
Healthy Climate New Mexico members said there should be more collaboration so state data includes tribes and there are heat-related services available at more Indian Health Service clinics. They also recommend offering grants to tribes to better respond to climate change issues.
A bill in last year’s legislative session would have created a $12 million dollar fund for extreme heat resilience, but it stalled. And another bill that would have reduced greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050 was tabled.
The next full legislative session starts January 20, 2026.
Support for this coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
