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Albuquerque Marchers Demand Action on Climate, Water, Jobs & Justice

  Commentary: On Saturday, hundreds of New Mexicans united at the Rio Grande in a call for action on climate, water, jobs and justice as part of the national People's Climate March. Participants marched to Dolores Huerta Gateway Park for a Climate Action Fair, which featured voter registration, action opportunities and local elected officials and candidates signing on to a Climate Action Platform created by the dozens of community organizations sponsoring the event. Speakers included representatives from the offices of Senators Udall and Heinrich and Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham who were joined by Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino, City Councilors Pat Davis and Ike Benton in addition to Erin Engelbrecht from the City's Environmental Health Department. Participating organizations, elected officials, candidates and individual participants signed onto a Climate Action Platform.

Rayellen Smith, Indivisible Nob Hill president

“Nothing we do in any aspect of our lives Is as important as making sure our planet stays habitable. Just nothing.”

Background: CPA, professional trainer, quilt artist, activist, mom

Estefany Gonzalez-Mendoza, program coordinator, Juntos: Our Air, Our Water

“The impacts of climate change hurting the most vulnerable population, including low-income communities of color and children. My community has been disproportionately exposed and impacted by more air pollution fromoil and gas facilities andcars than their white non-Hispanic counterparts. In New Mexico alone, there are approximately 166,000 kids who ride school buses to over 89 school districts , which serve more than a 300,000 students , over half of whom are Latino, indigenous or black. With so many children exposed to pollution, it’s no coincidence that more than 1 in 11 suffer from asthma. We are in dire need of positive change that will help our mother earth, our families and kids live healthier lives.”

 

"Los impactos del cambio climático continuan afectando a las poblaciones más vulnerables, incluyendo a las comunidades de color y los niños de bajos ingresos. Mi comunidad ha estado expuesta y afectada desproporcionadamente por más contaminación del aire proveniente de instalaciones de petróleo y gas y automóviles que sus contrapartes blancas no hispanas. Tan solo en nuestro estado, hay aproximadamente 166,000 niños que viajan en autobuses escolares a más de 89 distritos escolares, que transportan a más de 300,000 estudiantes, más de la mitad de los cuales son latinos, indígenas o afroamericanos. Con tantos niños expuestos a la contaminación, no es coincidencia que más de 1 de cada 11 sufra de asma. Estamos en extrema necesidad de un cambio positivo que ayude a nuestra madre tierra, nuestras familias y niños a vivir vidas más saludables ".

Background: Juntos is a program of CVNM Education Fund in partnership with League of Conservation Voters’ Chispa. Juntos launched in 2014 to organize Latino families in Albuquerque to protect their air and water from threats of contamination and to advocate for clean energy as a solution.

Laura Martinez, administrative officer, 350.org UNM chapter

Background: Majoring in conservation biology at UNM, currently Open Space program assistant with Bernalillo County.

“I think of how insignificant humans are in the grand span of time that life has been here, but I also think of how significant human beings are in the destruction of our planet, and how so many people don’t realize it yet. We will be here to see this destruction if nothing is done, and that means we are obligated to fight for our future. We want every generation after us to be able to see the cotton fly off the cottonwoods trees, to smell the piñon, and to hear the roar of a full Rio Grande.”

Sister Joan Brown, osf, New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light executive director

“As we move into a warmer climate, which is causing more suffering to humans, creatures, plants, elements and all of life, we must love and act boldly, drawing from deep spiritual wisdom, ethical values, sustainable living practices and renewable energies. A new spiritual activism to care for Our Common Home is required with a moral revival that engages our civic leaders to connect the dots with climate justice, poverty, refugees/immigrants and concern for creation. We must care for the common good and future generations.”

Background: New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light is one of 40 state affiliates working with communities of faith and individuals of faith and conscience as a “religious voice for climate justice” rooted in the universal call to “Love Thy Neighbor,” which means humans and all creation.

Bruce Milne, professor of biology and Sustainability Studies Program director, University of New Mexico

“The Sustainability Studies Program rises up every day about careers, environmental justice, climate, and water by working with passionate students at UNM.  Over the last 10 years, our graduates have become local leaders with jobs at NGOs, in schools, as environmental planners and designers, or been awarded scholarships at prestigious graduate schools, including Yale and Oxford. Social justice, climate, and sustainable policy ideas are the DNA of any sustainability curriculum. In other words, we are all about the triple bottom line of people, planet, and performance!”

Before today, we became a long-standing cornerstone of education and action at UNM.  In 2009 we drafted the official campus Climate Action Plan to reduce emissions 80% by 2030. We saw the word “Sustainability” become one of seven official UNM values. The program was endowed by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. During Rise Up, our action is for folks to sign a Personal Carbon Reduction Commitment based on science-based tactics for a planet-friendly lifestyle.  After the event, we will join others to organize a local food summit to forge a collective vision for how our land, water, and energy solutions will adapt communities to climate change while celebrating the heritage of the Middle Rio Grande Valley.”

Camilla Feibelman, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter director

Quote: “Our family’s experiences this summer took the shine off an idyllic time of year. Severe forest fires led to the cancelation of Girl Scout camp; Lyme disease was a threat at our family reunion; our flights were cancelled in both directions because of huge thunderstorms, and we came home to golf-ball-size hail damage to our roof and home interior. Five weeks later we’re still in a rental unit. The consequences of climate change are upon us, and now is the time to act.  We’ve invited all of our area’s political candidates from every party to join our march and action fair to explain to participants how they plan to act on these urgent issues.”

Background: Camilla was born and raised in New Mexico, where she now lives with her husband, 5-year-old stepdaughter and 2-year-old son.

Sue Brown, member, Watershed Way and Albuquerque Mennonite Church

“This march reminds us that people, plants, and animals share life in the Rio Grande Watershed and must learn to live in harmony with our resources. This is our home...know it, love it, protect it.  Having lived without reliable drinking water for 10 years, I realized how incredibly important water, as an vulnerable part of our climate, is.

“Decreasing our carbon emissions is a value we share and act by walking, biking, using public transportation, carpooling and supporting electric vehicles.”

Background: I lived for 10 years in Haiti, where there wasn’t reliable electricity or transportation. I learned that we can get by with a lot less that what we are accustomed to. Albuquerque Mennonite Church is an Anabaptist community of peace, justice.

Judith Smith, volunteer Organizing for Action NM Chapter co-leader

Quote: “Organizing for Action is a non-partisan progressive grassroots network, fueled by millions of volunteers, that has been fighting for years to move our country forward. We  support candidates who understand that we are living in a climate emergency that requires immediate action.:From public health to the economy, from sea level rise to national security — it’s all at stake if we don’t act on climate. Call to Action: Vote on climate.”

Background: Smith is a retired special-education educator/administrator, mother and grandmother.

Maggie Seeley & Leila Salim, TransitionABQ.org members

“We are kicking the fossil-fuel habit and increasing our resilience.  Education and economic health are key factors to preserving this precious Earth.”

Background: Maggie: Professor of Sustainability Studies at UNM and permaculturalist;

Leila: Head of Albuquerque OldSchool; graphic artist and community activist. 1,200 Transition Initiatives worldwide are grassroots organizations whose members are dedicated to taking personal responsibility for the mitigation of CO2.

Glenda Winternheimer, organizer, Environmental Defense Fund Action

“Environmental Defense Fund Action is dedicated to protecting the rights of all people and future generations. Among these rights are access to clean air, water, healthy nourishing foods and flourishing ecosystems. At the march we will collect ‘commit to vote’ cards to protect our environment.”

Background: I am a former union organizer, born and raised in Germany, lived in New York City and since 2006 in Albuquerque. I love the NM outdoors and am dedicated to protect our nature through activism.

Tom Solomon, co-coordinator of 350 New Mexico

Background: I am a retired electrical engineer and father. 350 New Mexico is the NM chapter of 350.org, an international grassroots organization building a global movement to fight climate change.

Quote: “With heat-trapping CO2 levels now at 408 parts per million, far higher than mankind has EVER seen, and rising every year, we keep burning fossil fuels. Our leaders must act now on a just transition to a 100% clean-energy future. These clean-energy solutions based on solar, wind and geothermal energy are known, working, cheap, and are demanded by more than 85% of us. We have just a few years left to get this done before we’ve locked our children into a future of devastating storms, heat waves, drought, dried-up farmlands and flooded coastlines.”

“It is time for our political leaders to stand up for our future and push urgently for strong climate policies, like strong renewable portfolio standards, protections against fracking and for clean water and air, and for communities and states to go 100% renewable, with a just economic transition for affected workers and communities. We must all be climate voters in 2018, our children are counting on it.”

Mariel Nanasi, New Energy Economy executive director

Background - At New Energy Economy, we Rise for Climate! and expose a vision of what is possible by championing practical solutions that advance and democratize a renewable-energy future. We oppose the greed-ridden and profit-driven energy monopolies that rely on dirty coal, costly and climate-altering natural gas, and obscenely dangerous nuclear energy.

Quote: “By moving towards 100% renewable energy, New Mexico can unleash its economic potential and address poverty, public health, and climate challenges.

We rise for family-supporting renewable-energy jobs. It is up to us to blaze the path forward and lead by example by solarizing senior centers, schools, libraries and public buildings across New Mexico.

We Rise for environmental justice because our lives depend on it.”

Athena Christodoulou, President, NM Solar Energy Association

Background - NMSEA educates, collaborates, emPOWERs, and advocates for the transition to 100% clean renewable energy and a sustainable lifestyle.

“Make a plan to transition to ONLY clean energy like electricity and solar in the next 15 years. My plan includes heating the home and/or water and my transportation choices by 2023. Visit nmsolar.org for more info and come to the Solar Fiesta October 20 to experience the clean energy future.”