COVID-19 Response: Environmental Protection Rollbacks

In Episode 37, we’re talking about companies and federal officials squeezing through changes to environmental regulation, oil and gas leases and laws about anti-pipeline demonstrators while the nation’s been focused on the pandemic. We hear from longtime state environment reporter Laura Paskus about the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to allow “regulated industries to use their own discretion to report violations of clean air and water laws,” which came about during the pandemic. And we hear Paskus’ interview with New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney about what this means for our state. Then, Liz McKenzie, who went to Standing Rock from New Mexico years ago, responds to three states passing laws to further criminalize people who protest fossile fuel infrastructure, all of which happened in the last two weeks of March, as the country coped with COVID. We hear from State Land Office Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard about an emergency oil and gas rule that lets companies stop drilling for at least 30 days, in part because gas prices are tanking. Rebecca Sobel from WildEarth Guardians talks about frustrations that the Bureau of Land Management is continuing the process of leasing New Mexico’s land even during the pandemic, when it’s pretty hard for people to register their objections. And a news update:  The number of people who are confirmed to have the virus in New Mexico jumped by more than a hundred to 794. One more person died, bringing the death toll to 13. Two Pueblos are seeing outbreaks this week, too. There were 52 cases in San Felipe and 31 in Zia. On the Navajo Nation, there are 384 confirmed cases—a high number given the population size. And there have been 15 virus-related deaths. We’re keeping a complete list of the resources and volunteer opportunities that we find for each episode here.  How are things going for you? We want to know. Share your quarantine stories by calling: (505) 218-7084 and leaving us a message. We could roll them into a future episode.

This segment is part of the “Your New Mexico Government” Project (#YourNMgov), a collaboration between New Mexico PBS, KUNM Radio, and the Santa Fe Reporter. This endeavor is funded by the New Mexico Local Journalism Fund with public media support provided by the Thornburg Foundation.