SANTA FE, N.M. - When Steven Abeyta and his wife moved from Colorado back to their family home in San Jose, they found that a number of large industrial plants had become part of the neighborhood. While adjusting to the change from the farming community that had been there before, Abeyta became concerned.
A health-impact assessment of the area caused him to consider the effects of living among so much industrial discharge. That's when he went to Santa Fe to testify on behalf of HB 458, the Consolidated Review Act.
"If you've got a company underneath the guidelines to emit into the air and another company across the street is just right under that particular guideline," he said, "the government will not look at the cumulative impacts of all the companies combined."
The bill was tabled, Abeyta said, because legislators believed its language did not respond to his concerns. Efforts continue to address the issue.
Eric Jantz, a staff attorney at New Mexico Environmental Law Center, said HB 458 was designed to make a case for regulators to listen to the issues of area residents and be required to consider alternatives and mitigation measures to newly proposed operations in communities similar to San Jose and Mountain View.
The bill is not radical, Jantz said, but opposition remains.
" 'It's going to cost jobs. It's going to break the New Mexico budget.' There's absolutely no basis for those hypothetical situations," he said. "Montana, they have a very similar type law. And they've had it for 30 years."
Abeyta's method of keeping the effort alive is to work with the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) and other communities in the state, including Mesquite and Kirtland in the Four Corners area, to collect data to establish the impact of pollution on these communities.
It's called an "Air Bucket Brigade" campaign, and Abeyta explained how it works.
"It's a contraption that would be able to capture ambient air and particulate matter," he said. "We'll put it in a bag that's shipped to a laboratory where it's analyzed for pollutants."
Some people have suggested a different solution, Abeyta said, but it isn't one he likes.
"Many people have told us that we should move. 'Sell your home and move away,' " he said. "Wouldn't the new owner be affected by what we're running away from? What about the people in our community? Do we run away from them? If we run, are we going to be running the rest of our life, when another company comes into the new neighborhood that we're in?"
Jantz considers HB 458 a public health bill. This is the second time it has been introduced, he said, adding that he is prepared to bring it up again. The bill's text is online at nmlegis.gov.
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A new report found four dams in the Columbia River Basin are big emitters of methane.
Research from the organization Tell The Dam Truth showed the four lower Snake River dams in eastern Washington emit the equivalent of 1.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.
Robin Everett, deputy western region field director for the Sierra Club, said it undercuts some of the claims the dams are helping provide the region with clean energy.
"It's really clear from this report that we have to take this a lot more seriously that there are some real impacts as far as emissions go from these dams," Everett asserted.
The reports showed the dams produce the equivalent emissions of burning 2 billion pounds of coal annually. Defenders of the dams counted they are important for barging and irrigation for the area's agricultural lands.
But Everett pointed out the dams have another effect on the region: they block the dwindling population of salmon and steelhead from traveling upstream on the Snake River. She noted it not only hurts fish populations but the tribes relying on them.
"We have an obligation for them to be able to fish and if there are no fish to fish, we have broken the treaties," Everett contended
Chinook salmon are also an important source of food for orca on the West Coast. Everett added protecting salmon is important for tribes and the region as a whole.
"Our moral obligation to the salmon and the orca that depend on them are met as well," Everett concluded.
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A proposed pumped-storage hydroelectric facility for Cuffs Run near the Susquehanna River in York County has been challenged by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
The foundation filed a motion to intervene in the proceedings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is considering granting a preliminary permit to build a 1.8-mile-long dam for the project.
Harry Campbell, science policy and advocacy director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said they are working to stop the project in order to protect the unique Cuffs Run area and its ecological benefits for future generations.
"If approved, this project would destroy it about 580 acres of prime farmland, fields and forests, some of which have not been disturbed in about 100 years," Campbell pointed out. "Those farms, fields and forests exist harmoniously with and in support of a plethora of plant and animal life."
The foundation is circulating an online petition and encouraged Pennsylvanians to provide comments before Sunday.
The stream is home to naturally reproducing brook trout. Advocates worry the $2.5 billion project would also be harmful to the Susquehanna River. Campbell noted about 40 families would be displaced.
"For those who call Cuffs Run home, it's more than just a place to live. It's their heritage and they want it to be part of their legacy," Campbell asserted. "This project just simply is the wrong idea in the wrong place. In order to honor that heritage and that legacy, we need to preserve this area."
Campbell emphasized the Cuffs Run project is about 993 acres of land draining into a 2.5-mile unnamed tributary. He added in terms of stream habitat, the rocks, pebbles and woody material have been identified as among the best in the region for supporting critters living in the water.
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Tennesseans want more say in how the Tennessee Valley Authority plans for their future electricity needs and a bill now in Congress could give the public more influence.
The "TVA Increase Rate of Participation Act," would require a more open decision-making process for the utility.
Brianna Knisley, director of public power campaigns for Appalachian Voices, said the TVA is currently developing its new Integrated Resource Plan to meet future energy demands. The bill would require more public participation in the plan's proceedings.
"Right now the stakeholders who get to provide input early on in the IRP process are all hand-selected by TVA," Knisley pointed out. "You can't choose to be in that IRP working group. And those are the only folks who get substantial input in the architecture of the IRP, as it's being designed."
The utility serves more than 10 million people across six states. The TVA said it is reviewing the legislation. A draft of the plan will be published at a later date. The TVA said it already has a "robust stakeholder engagement plan."
After the plan is released, Knisley noted public input happens during what's known as the scoping phase of the National Environmental Policy Act. Open houses are set up, where the TVA answers questions from the public. Knisley encouraged Tennesseans to raise any of their concerns during the public and virtual hearings.
"I think additional public input into our region's long-term energy plan is only going to strengthen outcomes," Knisley contended. "And make that long-term energy plan better meet the needs of the Tennessee Valley, as a whole."
She added it is important for Tennesseans to work with Congress on the best way to improve public input in the TVA decision-making process.
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