By Austin Fisher
Source NM
December 14, 2021

Incoming commissioner becomes the first Indigenous person to serve, according to city sources.\

Albuquerque councilors confirmed the appointment of the first Native person ever to serve on the city government’s Environmental Planning Commission, according to city sources. She’ll also be the only woman on the board. 

But it was only after public pressure and a letter-writing campaign from numerous organizations in support of the candidate, who said she experienced discrimination during the vetting process…

By Anita Hofschneider
Honolulu Civil Beat
December 3, 2021

Dee Ann Koanui’s memories of the three years she spent as a child living on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina are a glorious stream of outdoor adventures.

She and her four siblings spent their days climbing trees and watching alligators at a nearby river, only returning to their four-bedroom home at the end of a cul-de-sac when night fell and the streetlights flickered on.

But Koanui’s rosy recollections were dampened when years later, in her 30s, she learned that Camp Lejeune had been the site of contaminated drinking water for decades, in part due to carcinogenic chemicals used for dry-cleaning services.

By Adrian Hedden
Carlsbad Current-Argus
November 26, 2021

A group of New Mexico lawmakers endorsed a resolution that would codify into the State’s Constitution the public’s right to a “healthy environment,” citing ongoing concerns for pollution and climate change.

Known as the “Green Amendment,” the legislation was introduced during the previous 2021 Legislative Session, receiving a “do pass” vote from the Senate Rules Committee but stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
It would place into the State’s Bill of Rights language to declare a healthy environment a right of all New Mexicans.

During a recent meeting of the interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee, lawmakers from both the House and Senate voted in favor of the resolution on a 6-1 vote.