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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Lots of Sierra Club NM Events This Month
From Sierra Club NM: September is turning out to be a very exciting month full of events dealing with many of the most important environmental issues facing our region today. Check out the list below for details, and email Shrayas Jatkar (Conservation Organizer, shrayas.jatkar@sierraclub.org) if you are interested in learning more or volunteering at some of the events listed here.
Thursday, September 11, 6-9:30 PM
Public Meeting on Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (Draft GEIS) for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities at Hilton Albuquerque (1901 University Boulevard, NE). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will be in town to present and take public comments on its Draft GEIS for in-situ leach uranium mining. Led by Environmental Justice Organizer Robert Tohe, the Sierra Club has been working with tribal community and other pro-environment groups to challenge the GEIS process as well as the push for renewed uranium mining in the U.S. Please email shrayas.jatkar@sierraclub.org if you plan to attend and would like a set of talking points for the public meeting.
Friday, September 12, 9:30 AM-12 PM
"Leave No New Mexico Child Inside" Forum at Buffalo Thunder Resort, Pojoaque, NM (for directions, www.buffalothunderresort.com). The Sierra Club-Building Bridges to the Outdoors program and the Santa Fe Mountain Center invite you to hear Richard Louv, best-selling author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Louv exposes one of the most pressing issues facing the next generation: children are spending less and less time interacting with nature. Please join us for this first statewide forum and learn about the importance and benefits of reconnecting your children and grandchildren with the natural world around them.
For more details and to see a list of panelists, go to: www.sierraclub.org/youth/newmexico/.
Tuesday, September 16, 7-9 PM
Member Meeting - Central Group (Rio Grande Chapter, Sierra Club) at UNM Law School (1117 Stanford, NE). Join volunteer leaders with the Central Group-Rio Grande Chapter for their general membership meeting. The focus for this meeting is water issues in the middle Rio Grande valley.
Thursday, September 18, 6 PM
An evening with Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D. at UNM Law School, Room 2401 (1117 Stanford, NE). Nationally-renowned energy expert, Dr. Arjun Makhijani, will be in Albuquerque to discuss the bold and visionary ideas in his latest book entitled Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy. Dr. Makhijani will discuss the real steps that the U.S. can take to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2060 without nuclear power, while addressing the three-fold global energy crisis of climate disruption, oil insecurity, and nuclear proliferation. You can download a free copy of Carbon Free and Nuclear Free at: www.ieer.org/carbonfree/index.html.
Friday, September 19, 9 AM-3 PM
Environmental Appreciation Day at the NM State Fair, State Fairgrounds (along Central Avenue, between San Pedro & Louisiana). Come by and visit the New Mexico Sierra Club as well as other pro-environment groups while enjoying a day at the State Fair. Please email shrayas.jatkar@sierraclub.org if you are interested in helping staff the table with us. For a list of all theme days at the 2008 State Fair, go to: .
Saturday & Sunday, September 20-21, 10 AM-5 PM
9th Annual Solar Fiesta at Highland High School (along Coal, between Jefferson & Monroe). The theme of the 2008 Solar Fiesta is It's Easy Being Green and will include a wonderful array of exhibits and workshops focusing on practical uses of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and many other sustainable living practices. The Albuquerque Cool Cities campaign will be presenting a workshop on its efforts on Sunday, September 21st from 12:15-1:15 PM. We need volunteers to help us staff the table on both Saturday and Sunday; please email shrayas.jatkar@sierraclub.org if you are interested. For more details about the Solar Fiesta, go to: www.nmsea.org/Solar_Fiesta/Solar_Fiesta_2008/index.php.
Saturday, September 27, 12-3 PM
Environmental Solutions Fair at Robinson Park (8th and Central, following the downtown Growers Market). New Mexico Youth Organized and 1Sky New Mexico, along with many other environmental and community groups, will be hosting a solutions fair to highlight energy saving solutions, environmental education, community gardening, green businesses, and the Albuquerque Green Job initiative. This will be a fun, community event bringing positive and determined people together around cleaning up our environment, building pathways out of poverty via green jobs, and uplifting our environment and our people. Please email shrayas.jatkar@sierraclub.org if you are interested in helping staff the table with us. For more information, go to: www.greenjobsnow.com.
September 10, 2008 at 09:37 AM in Energy, Environment, Events | Permalink
Comments
Hate to keep nagging but what is Udall's opinion on our water? Where is Gary King!
Socorro News Magdalena Catron
Stand Together To Stop Water Plunder
To the Editor,
A public notice appeared in last week’s paper that should make everyone in New Mexico shudder.
A corporation wants to drill 37 wells into the Plains of San Agustin west of Magdalena with 20-inch well casings to a depth of 3,000 feet in order to pump out 54,000 acre-feet of water a year.
That is more than 17 billion gallons that will be removed annually and most will be piped over to the Rio Grande to make up for shortfalls caused by over-consumption upstream.
That amount would support more than 27 Socorros. No one knows how much water lies under the plains, but this kind of pumping could deplete it in only a few decades.
When this water is drawn away, the first to suffer will be springs and shallow wells near pumping sites near Datil.
Then the deeper wells and those further away will go dry. Geologically, the Agustin plains are “leaky.”
That’s why there is no lake on the surface of the basin.
The water that flows into the plains from the surrounding mountains leaks out from underneath to supply both the Gila River to the west and the Alamosa River with its complex of warm springs to the south.
Wildlife populations will crash. The human population will, too. The character of the entire region will be forever altered. Moreover, if the office of the State Engineer permits this, anyone from anywhere will be able to pull water out from under anyone in New Mexico, destroying property values and livelihoods to send private profit elsewhere.
Anyone with a well near the Augustin Plains can protest this water grab in writing.
Protests may also be based on the project being “contrary to water conservation in New Mexico” or “detrimental to the public welfare of the state.”
If you enjoy the outdoors, camping or hunting in the affected counties, you could be impacted by this. If you are concerned that this will forever have a negative economic impact in southwestern New Mexico, send a letter of protest.
Be specific and send it to the office of the State Engineer, 121 Tijeras NE, Suite 2000, Albuquerque, NM 87102.
Please reference the application number RG-89943.
If you’re worried about your well, include your permit number. Protests must be received by Monday.
Please stand with your neighbors to stop this plunder of our water.
You can find more information about this alarming project at www.catroncounty.net/water.
Sincerely,
Mary Katherine Ray
Winston
Posted by: qofdisks | Sep 10, 2008 12:15:48 PM
