New Energy Economy

By Milan Simonich John Bemis, litigator, helicopter pilot, Army veteran and government executive, never wanted to succeed New Mexico’s living legend. As it turned out, the path he did not care to travel has taken him on the ride of a lifetime. “I was looking for my last great job and I found it,” said [...]

By Susan Montoya Bryan Three New Mexico utility regulators have shot down an effort by one of their own to support a plan by the state Environment Department for curbing pollution at one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the Southwest. The Environment Department is at odds with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over [...]

The state Environmental Improvement Board, saying a 15-month-old rule to reduce carbon pollution was bad for business and already outdated, repealed the measure today in a unanimous vote. Deborah Peacock of Albuquerque, the board chairwoman, said new federal regulations actually had caused the state rule to “sunset.” But she and the other board members nonetheless [...]

Santa Fe’s youngest environmentalists are the main subjects of a new mural at Warehouse 21, in the heart of the city’s Railyard community. The mural, up for the next two years, is the work of graffiti artist John Santos and photographer Ann Stavely. Eventually, seven high school activists will beam down from the wall with [...]

By Dean Kuipers A federal appeals court has ruled that the owners of the San Juan Generating Station, a huge coal-fired power plant near Farmington, N.M., must continue with plans to install strong pollution controls. Several California cities purchase electricity from the plant. The federal Environmental Protection Agency ruled last fall that the plant was required [...]