fracking

There were over 38,000 oil and gas spills in New Mexico last year. That’s according to a report released yesterday at the Legislature by environmental advocacy group WildEarth Guardians along with over 20 other organizations. While that number has declined over time, the volume of these spills is actually increasing.

A newly minted bill in the legislative session that would allow the discharge of treated oil and gas wastewater into New Mexico’s streams, rivers, and aquifers is garnering widespread condemnation from environmentalists.

Last month, the lesser prairie chicken lost its federal protections after a yearslong legal battle between conservationists and the oil and gas industry. KUNM sat down with the Permian Basin Petroleum Association’s Michael Lozano to talk about why producers oppose formal protections for other endangered species – such as the dune sagebrush lizard.

A new poll released this week by the National Wildlife Federation finds New Mexicans overwhelmingly support strong environmental safeguards and oversight of oil and gas development on public lands.

A judge heard arguments on Friday on whether a high-profile environmental lawsuit brought on by the Center of Biological Diversity, WildEarth Guardians and several frontline Native American communities should go to trial.

A historic and first-of-its-kind constitutional lawsuit accusing the state of New Mexico of failing to curb increasing air pollution is facing its first major hearing Friday as several groups petition the court to allow them to intervene in the case.

On Dec. 22, the federal Bureau of Land Management’s field office in Farmington publicly announced (quietly, via a webpage update) that work on an update and amendment to the district’s Resource Management Plans had been scrapped, with no replacement or path forward announced.

This week the legislature opened the 2024 session and at least one lawmaker is hoping to put tighter regulations on the state’s oil and gas industry.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has made it clear that paving a path to a hydrogen hub in New Mexico is a priority for this legislative session.But, with just under 10 days left, it’s looking grim for the governor’s wishes as yet another attempt by lawmakers to define hydrogen as a renewable energy has fallen short.

Your New Mexico Government is continuing its coverage of everything that happens at the Roundhouse with an interview of Laura Paskus from New Mexico PBS.…