Albuquerque Air War: Big Business, Bipartisan Politicos Attack Environmental Justice Rule
December 15, 2023
By Kent Paterson, CounterPunch
Promoting a tourism mystique, the marketers of Albuquerque, New Mexico, peddle images of clean skies, diverse culture and delicious cuisine. The icons encompass soaring hot air balloons, majestic Sandia Mountain vistas and the ubiquitous chile pepper, red or green. But if current political trends hold, the postcard visitors send grandma might depict more spewing emissions, sickly skies and gagging residents.
At least that’s the implication of recent actions by the Albuquerque City Council that sacked the current members of the joint Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board (JAQCB) and blocked a proposed Health, Environment and Equity Impacts rule (HEEI) aimed at protecting low-income communities of color in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County from further, disproportionate air pollution impacts, including the cumulative effects of pollution. …
AIR QUALITY CONTROL BOARD CONCLUDES HISTORIC PUBLIC HEARING ON HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT & EQUITY IMPACTS REGULATION
Questions Remain Over What Impact New Revised Rule Will Have
ALBUQUERQUE, NM—A historic public hearing in front of the Joint ABQ-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board concluded last night, Monday, December 11th, at which the Board heard evidence and requests from the Mountain View Coalition, Pro-Se Parties, Dr. Sofia Martinez and Manuel Criollo represented by the UNM Natural Resources Law Clinic, and Pueblo of Isleta, along with countless community partners to address decades of environmental racism….
Air Board Decides to Continue Historic HEEI Public Hearing
Despite the horrific decisions by the Albuquerque City Council last night to override both Mayoral vetoes of the Dan Lewis bills to abolish the current Joint ABQ-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board and to establish a moratorium on board action through...ABQ Mayor Vetoes Bills That Would Have Purged Air Quality Control Board
November 22, 2023
Press Release
Vetoes Mean Mountain View Coalition’s Cumulative Impacts Regulation Can Proceed to Dec. 4th Public Hearing
ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller vetoed two controversial bills today that would have purged the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Joint Air Quality Control Board and established a moratorium on action until February.
The Mayor cited a lack of cooperation with Bernalillo County, a lack of consultation with the Office of the Mayor, and that the bills were premature and an attempt to pre-empt the Air Quality Control Board’s upcoming public hearing on the Mountain View Coalition’s community-driven and historic Health, Environment & Equity Impacts regulation scheduled to begin in 12 days. …