ALERT: NM House Bill for Tax Subsidies to Dirty Desert Rock Power Plant Introduced

Editor's Note: A version of this bill was previously introduced on the Senate side. See our earlier post. Now it's being pursued on the House side. I got the following alert via email from activists fighting the bill:

Please Call Today - STOP TAXPAYER SUBSIDIES FOR THE PROPOSED DIRTY DESERT ROCK POWER PLANT!

Soon, House Energy & Natural Resources Committee will be considering House Bill 178 which proposes an $85 million subsidy for the proposed Desert Rock coal-fired power plant. Please call House Energy and Natural Resource Committee Members and tell them to OPPOSE HB 178.

No subsidies or tax breaks to build a dirty plant for electricity to other states – NOT our money, not out of New Mexico’s pocket into Sithe Global’s wallet.

If Desert Rock is built, all the clean energy and anti-pollution progress we have made in New Mexico will be wasted. Sithe Global claims their plant would be a “clean” coal plant, but it would NOT meet New Mexico’s standards for power plants and would severely impact surrounding communities and add millions of pounds of carbon and mercury pollution into New Mexico’s air and water.

The legislature will be considering real clean energy legislation this session. Encourage your representative and members of the Energy & Natural Resource Committee to vote against dirty coal and for clean energy in 2007.

Please contact the following Energy & Natural Resource Committee Members. If you are in their district, please let them know.

Representative Jim Trujillo, Vice Chair
District 45, Capitol Phone: 986-4255
Email: jimtrujillo@msn.com

Representative James Roger Madalena, Chair
District 65, Capitol Phone: 986-4417
Email: jr_madalena@yahoo.com

Representative Thomas Anderson
District 29, Capitol Phone: 986-4452
Email: kb5ysg@arrl.net

Representative Paul Bandy
District 3, Capitol Phone: 986-4214
Email: paul@bandyranch.com

Representative Donald Bratton
District 62, Capitol Phone: 986-4427
Email: donbratton@valornet.com

Representative Candy Spence Ezzell
District 58, Capitol Phone: 986-4450
Email: csecows@aol.com

Representative Thomas Garcia
District 68, Capitol Phone: 986-4242
Email: ocate@hotmail.com

Representative William Gray
District 54, Capitol Phone: 986-4211
Email: wjgray@pvtnetworks.net

Representative Joni Marie Gutierrez
District 33, Capitol Phone: 986-4234
Email: jonig@zianet.com

Representative Jeff Steinborn
District 37, Capitol Phone: 986-4248
Email: jeff.steinborn@nmlegis.gov

Representative James R.J. Strickler
District 2, Capitol Phone: 986-4454
Email: jamesstrickler@msn.com

Questions? delschwartz@juno.com