Pixabay
The state Senate Conservation Committee passed a community solar bill Thursday after a lengthy debate and multiple amendment proposals. Legislators have introduced various community solar bills over the past years, but the newest version of the bill was drafted by a task force that was created during the last session.
Senator Liz Stefanics, D-Cerrillos, presented SB 84, the Community Solar Act, to the committee. The bill would direct the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) to develop and adopt rules to implement a community solar program, in which communities can subscribe to local solar facilities that are established by an anchor tenant.
Associated Press
New Mexico health officials say almost all of the state s 33 counties have shown improvements over the last two weeks when it comes to reducing daily case totals and test positivity rates.
The latest data released by the state Health Department shows seven counties have improved and moved into the yellow category, while sparsely populated Harding County remains green.
The rest of the counties including those that span New Mexico s most populated areas remain in the red zone due to higher risks.
However, state officials say more than two-thirds of counties are on the cusp of reaching the metrics required for yellow classification.
This is the Jan. 28, 2021, edition of Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment in California and the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.
The day before President Joe Biden took office, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce one of the country’s most influential business groups, and a longtime opponent of aggressive climate policies made a seemingly major announcement: It would support a market-based approach to slashing emissions. American climate policy, the Chamber said, “should recognize the urgent need for action.”
But three days later as the Biden administration prepared to pause new oil and gas leases on public lands and waters the group released a statement reading, in part, “There is never a good time to disrupt domestic energy production.”
The head of the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce is among those saying that a cessation of oil and gas leases or permits on federal lands likely will mean hundreds of millions in lost tax revenues each year. A moratorium on oil and gas leases on federal land and waters, except tribal properties, was announced […]