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Conservation Voters NM lauds legislators

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Conservation Scorecard related to 2015-16 legislative service

Conservation Voters New Mexico released its statewide Conservation Scorecard Aug. 4 for the 52nd legislature. In the document, CVNM reports the votes cast on the most critical issues impacting air, land, water, health, and communities during the 2015 and 2016 legislative sessions.

The 2015-16 Scorecard also includes an analysis of State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn’s record on the environment during his first years in office.

The average conservation score earned by western New Mexico senators in the 2015-16 Scorecard is 60 percent, four percentage points below the Senate-wide average. The average conservation score earned by western New Mexico representatives during the same time is 59 percent, 11 percentage points above the House-wide average.

“Working alongside communities to ensure that their voices are the ones heard in the Capital is the key to addressing the myriad of environmental injustices around the state,” Ben Shelton, CVNM political and legislative director, said. “Both (SB 94) and (SB 391) encourage the growth of industries outside the oil and gas industry and can provide much needed jobs. Given that western New Mexico and the Four Corners region are heavily hit by the decline in demand for fossil fuels, we hope that these legislators will consider supporting other industries in the future.”

Legislators from western New Mexico voted along party lines during both legislative sessions, Shelton said.

Rep. D. Wonda Johnson, D-Church Rock, and James Madalena, D-Jemez Pueblo, were the sole western representatives in the state to vote against House Bill 285 and House Memorial 40. A vote against these measures is the pro-conservation position, Shelton said.

HB 285 (2016) was a green-washed tax break for the oil and gas industry.

“The carbon savings that the bill advertised were overstated,” Shelton said.

HM 40 (2016) authorized the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance to construct a consolidated facility for the storage of spent nuclear storage rods from commercial nuclear power generation plants.

Senators Bill Sharer, R-San Juan, and George Muñoz, D-Gallup, were the sole senators to vote against anti-conservation SB 253, which would have outlawed coyote killing contests.

“I’m against the killing of coyotes,” Muñoz said. “That’s what my vote on that was about.”

Also, Rep. Sharon Clahchischilliage, R-Kirtland, voted against a bill that would have extended a 10-percent tax credit for the installation of commercial, agricultural, and solar systems, which expires this coming December. Clahchischilliage, one of six Navajo conservatives to ever serve the New Mexico legislature, also voted against SB 94, which would have provided for the licensing of the growing, selling, and processing of industrial hemp in New Mexico.

Muñoz and Johnson each ran in the June 2016 primary election. Muñoz beat Felisha Adams of Iyanbito and Johnson beat Kevin Mitchell of Tohatchi by a margin of less than 10 percentage points. Johnson and Muñoz are on the November voting ballot.

Clahchischilliage faces political newcomer GloJean Todacheene, D-Shiprock, in the Nov. 8 general election.

By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent

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