NM youth climate school strike this Friday 15 March: see you in Santa Fe, 11 am to 2 pm for public actions; LASG discussion afterward
March 13, 2019
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This letter:
- Friday's action and meeting in Santa Fe
- Failure to act to mitigate global warming by NM Legislature, Governor, congressional delegation; many environmental groups are misleading their members
Dear friends on our New Mexico activist list –
Since writing you last, I (Greg) was in Washington for two weeks working on nuclear weapons issues -- including and especially plutonium warhead cores ("pits"). What I saw, heard, and learned on that long trip was not encouraging, but all those interactions are not the subject of this letter. Many of you have been involved in the New Mexico legislature, which is great as far as it goes. We will talk to you about nuclear weapons when that is over.
Now, with the legislature almost over, we want you to move heaven and earth to attend Friday's action by Santa Fe students ("Santa Fe students to participate in climate march," Olivia Harlow, 12 March 2019, Santa Fe New Mexican). It is a reasonable request, is it not? Wherever you are, whatever else you have planned, please come if at all possible, and help get out the word.
Friday's event is part of the open-ended "Fridays for Future" international (and now US) series of strikes led by youth, which we recommended to you back on Christmas Day 2018.
We don't want to burden you with detail at this point. Here's the US Youth Climate Strike website; the direct link to the strike in Santa Fe on Friday; the thank you page you will receive after RSVPing to the Santa Fe strike.
We have copied the US Youth Climate Strike suggested outreach email at the bottom of this message. Copy and paste it into your own emails if you like. Please recruit as many as you can.
See that email (below) for a detailed schedule of Friday's events.
After the climate strike events we will meet nearby at Upper Crust Pizza, 329 Old Santa Fe Trail for discussion and fellowship.
*******
Now, regarding the failure in our legislature, by our new Governor, and on the part of many environmental organizations to substantively address the global warming crisis -- this:
... [Tom] Singer [senior policy advisor with Western Environmental Law Center] pointed to a bigger picture. “It’s important for all the parties to remain cognizant of the magnitude of the stakes of methane emissions in New Mexico, and the current estimates—including data from the state itself, the OCD [Oil Conservation Division]—indicate that the amount of methane that’s been vented, leaked, and flared is the equivalent to roughly 15 to 20 medium-sized coal plants, so let’s say 10 San Juans,” he said. “It’s important, as people engage with this issue, to maintain that appreciation for the scope of the problem and for it to be addressed.” ("Lawmakers get another chance on methane regulations," Elizabeth Miller, New Mexico In Depth, 9 March 9 2019)
I am not sure about "10 San Juans," but Singer is right: the global warming being caused by vented, leaked, and flared methane ("upstream wasted methane," let's call it) in New Mexico is huge. The Environmental Defense Fund estimates it at 570,000 tons/year, but nobody knows for sure how much it really is.
So is "upstream wasted methane" the global warming equivalent of 5 San Juan Power Plants, or 10?
Resolution of such matters awaits better data, much of which isn't available. That is among the reasons why Senate Bill 459 ("Hydraulic Fracturing Permits and Reporting," sponsored by Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, Benny Shendo, Jr., Patricia Roybal Caballero, and Anthony Allison) is so important. SB 459, which pauses fracking on state and private lands for four years, won't pass this session. To my knowledge it is the only piece of legislation on offer this year which would have mitigated New Mexico's growing contribution to global warming in any serious way.
By contrast the vaunted "Energy Transition Act," Senate Bill 489, addresses a small -- even tiny -- part of the problem. It's not even right to call it a "baby step" because it's being used to hide the larger climate reality of New Mexico's huge and rising oil and gas extraction business.
This reality is not reported in the mainstream press, and most New Mexico and national environmental groups either don't understand the problem or are deceiving their members and the public. Newspaper readers are getting the exact wrong picture of this year's New Mexico legislative efforts to address global warming.
Citizens are also not hearing about how SB 489 is basically destroying a major part of what could be the foundation for community development and careers based on renewable energy -- what many now call a "Green New Deal." It has been preempted. We already wrote about this to you (see Bulletin #253: Emergency climate mobilization; a “green new deal” and included links).
My own calculations, summarized below without references and calculations (which have been sent to the New Mexico reporters) show that greenhouse contribution of "upstream wasted methane" is only a small fraction of the greenhouse contribution of the marketed oil and gas being produced in New Mexico.
As you can see, instantly getting rid of all coal production in New Mexico would decrease New Mexico's greenhouse gas contributions by less than 10%. Coal has to go, but it's not our main climate problem in New Mexico. Assuming oil and gas production remains steady at current levels, SB 489 would decrease greenhouse gas emissions by New-Mexico-produced-and-marketed fuels by about 2.5% per decade. This is no kind of climate leadership. It's a greenwash. Feeling deceived and angry? You should be.
New Mexico sources of greenhouse gases (million metric tons CO2 equivalent):
139 oil
96 marketed gas
24 coal
259 subtotal marketed fossil fuels
~14 flared gas (wild ass guess, WAG)
~49 leaked gas (WAG from EDF). I evaluate methane over 20 years and therefore use 1 kg methane = 86 kg CO2 equivalent (CO2e).
~63 subtotal WAG for flared and leaked natural gas
Memo: WAG for natural gas in NM overall ~ 159
~322 Total
Plus:
?? cement manufacture
?? other GH gases (e.g. refrigerants)
?? net embodied CO2e in "stuff" imported to state (food, materials, goods)
>322 Overall total CO2e
That's it for now.
Most of you are missing out on our often robust internal discussions and occasional meetings. If you want to be more closely involved, call and let's talk.
See you Friday.
Greg Mello
Everything below the line is the US Youth Climate Strike suggested email -- their demands; their solutions; etc., not ours. We have formatted it a little for clarity but haven't changed any words.
Subject: Can you come?
Friend,
I'm attending an event called NM Climate Strike.
Climate Change is threatening our future! Let's show our politicians that the time for bold action is NOW!
- 11 AM: Gather at the Santa Fe Plaza for Rally
- 11:30 AM: March up to the Roundhouse
- 12 PM: Sit-in in the Rotunda with Storytelling and Sharing
- 12:30-2PM: Music and Community Gathering Outside the Roundhouse
Our Mission
- We, the youth of America, are striking because decades of inaction has left us with just 11 years to change the trajectory of the worst effects of climate change, according to the Oct 2018 UN IPCC Report.
- We are striking because our world leaders have yet to acknowledge, prioritize, or properly address our climate crisis.
- We are striking because marginalized communities across our nation —especially communities of color, disabled communities, and low- income communities— are already disproportionately impacted by climate change.
- We are striking because if the social order is disrupted by our refusal to attend school, then the system is forced to face the climate crisis and enact change. With our futures at stake, we call for radical legislative action to combat climate change and its countless detrimental effects on the American people. We are striking for the Green New Deal, for a fair and just transition to a 100% renewable economy, and for ending the creation of additional fossil fuel infrastructure. Additionally, we believe the climate crisis should be declared a national emergency because we are running out of time.
Our Demands
- Green New Deal:
- An equitable transition for marginalized communities that will be most impacted by climate change
- An equitable transition for fossil-fuel reliant communities to a renewable economy
- 100% renewable energy by 2030
- Upgrading the current electric grid
- No creation of additional fossil fuel infrastructure (pipelines, coal plants, fracking etc.)
- The creation of a committee to oversee the implementation of a Green New Deal that has subpoena power -- Committee members can’t take fossil fuel industry donations [and] [a]ccepts climate science
- A halt in any and all fossil fuel infrastructure project[s]
- Fossil fuel infrastructure disproportionately impacts indigenous communities and communities of color in a negative way
- Creating new fossil fuel infrastructure would create new reliance on fossil fuels at a time of urgency
- All decisions made by the government be tied in scientific research, including the 2018 IPCC report
- The world needs to reduce GHG emissions by 50% by 2030, and 100% by 2050
- We need to incorporate this fact into all policymaking
- Declaring a National Emergency on Climate Change
- This calls for a national emergency because we have 11 years to avoid catastrophic climate change
- Since the US has empirically been a global leader, we should be a leader on climate action
- Since the US largely contributes to global GHG emissions, we should be leading the fight in GHG reduction
- Compulsory comprehensive education on climate change and its impacts throughout grades K-8
- K-8 is the ideal age range for compulsory climate change education because: Impressionability is high during that developmental stage, therefore it’s easier for children and young adults to learn about climate change in a more in-depth manner, and retain that information
- Climate change becomes a nonpartisan issue, as it truly is because it’s based solely on science from the beginning
- Preserving our public lands and wildlife
- Diverse ecosystems and national parks will be very impacted by climate change, therefore it’s important that we work to the best of our abilities to preserve their existence
- Keeping our water supply clean
- Clean water is essential for all living beings, when we pollute our water supply, or the water supply of someone else, it’s simply a violation of an essential human right
Our Solutions*
- The extraction of Greenhouse Gases from the atmosphere
- Reforestation-- replenishing our forests by planting trees and allowing them to thrive, sustainable forestry
- Reduced food waste-- methane emissions from rotting food in landfills contributes immensely to overall Greenhouse Gases emissions
Emission standards and benchmarks
- We need to create standards and benchmarks for reducing Greenhouse Gases that align with those expressed by the science community to avoid 2° Celsius warming
- Changing the agriculture industry
- Less carbon-intensive farming
- More plant-based farming
- Using renewable energy and building renewable energy infrastructure
- Stopping the unsustainable and dangerous process of fracking
- Stop mountaintop removal/mining
- It is very harmful to our environment and people working in these fields
*These are not the sole solutions, these are just some solutions that we approve of. To be effective, these solutions need to be implemented at a large scale by the United States government
Can you join me? Click here for details and to RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/nm-climate-strike?source=email&
Thanks!
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