Jennifer Granholm, the secretary of the Department of Energy, spoke about how the federal Inflation Reduction Act has created jobs and led to business expansions during a visit to Albuquerque on Friday. While in Albuquerque, Granholm celebrated the groundbreaking of an expanded solar tracking manufacturing campus. Array Technologies is building a new facility in west Albuquerque in addition to an already existing site. The new $50 million facility in west Albuquerque is expected to provide more than $300 million in economic benefits to the city over the next ten years. The new campus will be a ..read more

A group of anti-nuclear activists used data from Los Alamos National Laboratory to map places where plutonium contamination has been found in areas near the lab. Nuclear Watch New Mexico says that the data indicates plutonium contamination has migrated through the subsurface and into important water sources. The group called for comprehensive cleanup at LANL. The data is publicly available and there are more than 100,000 samples for plutonium dating from 1970 to 2023. However, Sophia Stroud, a digital content manager for Nuclear Watch New Mexico, explained that they did not want to include sam ..read more

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has until August 15 to issue a final listing determination for the Peñasco least chipmunk. A federal district court judge issued an order on Thursday setting deadlines for the Fish and Wildlife Service to finalize protections for the chipmunk and more than a dozen other species. This order comes after the Center for Biological Diversity sued the agency arguing that it was failing to meet statutory deadlines when it comes to listing species under the Endangered Species Act.  The lawsuit specifically focused on 15 species, including New Mexico’s Peñasco le ..read more

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday on an abortion-related case, this time over whether an Idaho anti-abortion law preempts a federal law that requires hospitals to stabilize a patient in a medical emergency if that involves abortion. Idaho’s abortion ban only allows abortion in the event the patient is facing death. There is no exception to save the health of the pregnant person. In the few months since this law has been in effect in Idaho, one Idaho hospital system reported having to airlift pregnant patients to out-of-state hospitals for care about once every other week ..read more

Four of the nine New Mexico counties evaluated in the annual State of the Air report received failing marks for ozone pollution. The counties with failing grades were Bernalillo, Doña Ana, Eddy and San Juan. The annual State of the Air report looks at ozone and particulate matter pollution in more than 200 metropolitan statistical areas. The American Lung Association began releasing its State of the Air report in 2000. The American Lung Association assigns letter grades to counties based on the air pollution. Lea and Sandoval counties received D grades for ozone. Of the nine counties in New Me ..read more

By Justin Horwath, NM In Depth It’s a safe bet Democrats will barrel into 2025 with their supremacy intact at the New Mexico Legislature. Barring an unexpected shock during this year’s elections, Democrats’ stranglehold on power is assured. Going into the 2024 contests, Democrats control nearly two-thirds of all seats in the House and nearly three of every five seats in the Senate. The question going into the June primary election is whether the party’s progressive wing will continue to increase power in the Legislature or will more centrist Democrats hold ground.   This year’s effort ..read more

U.S. Representatives Melanie Stansbury and Gabriel “Gabe” Vasquezannounced $16 million in federal grants earmarked for 28 nonprofit organizations across New Mexico that offer services to homeless individuals and families.  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will administer the grants. Vasquez, who represents New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, told reporters during a press conference in Albuquerque that the grant opportunity will enable the nonprofit recipients to budget accordingly but that there is no current timeline for when the funds will be distributed.  ..read more

New Mexico will receive millions in federal money to increase access to solar power. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced recipients of the $7 billion Solar for All competition awards on Monday. The state will receive $156 million through the program, which is enough to increase solar access for more than 21,000 households. The New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department will oversee the state’s Solar for All program. “The EPA’s Solar for All program is an unprecedented investment in clean, affordable renewable energy for low-income communities across the country ..read more

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a final rule Friday to designate two types of PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances. Those two chemicals are perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as PFOA, and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, or PFOS.  PFOA is the chemical that DuPont formerly used to make Teflon while PFOS was used as an ingredient in 3M’s Scotchgard. According to the Environmental Working Group, which has advocated for PFAS regulation and cleanup, those products were phased out in the United States due to concerns about health risks. “The rule will finally hold PFAS pol ..read more

New Mexico Voices for Children, an organization that focuses on tax policy and how it impacts children in poverty, has new leadership. Gabrielle Uballez replaces Amber Wallin as executive director of the nonprofit. Uballez began her new position last month. Uballez told NM Political Report that her interest in advocacy work was sparked when she was a child living in New Mexico. After school and during summer breaks, she participated in a program called Working Classroom, which provides art mentors to youth to build art skills focused on advocacy and social justice. Uballez attributes that earl ..read more