Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a time to honor the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of Dr. King. As a leader in the civil rights movement, Dr. King championed justice, equality, and compassion—values that remain profoundly relevant as we confront today’s interconnected crises, including the climate emergency, systemic racism, and the unchecked power of corporate greed.
Dr. King’s vision of justice extended far beyond racial equality; it encompassed social, economic, and environmental dimensions. He understood that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” a truth that resonates in our current struggles to address the climate crisis and the exploitation of vulnerable communities. Dr. King’s work laid the foundation for the environmental justice movement, which seeks to address the disproportionate environmental harms borne by people of color and those on the front lines of industrial pollution.
In 1968, one of Dr. King’s final campaigns was in support of the Memphis sanitation workers, who faced dangerous working conditions, poverty wages, and racial discrimination. The tragic deaths of Echol Cole and Robert Walker—two Black sanitation workers—sparked a strike that became a rallying point for economic and racial justice. Dr. King joined these workers in their demand for dignity, recognizing that their struggle reflected broader patterns of exploitation. Today, similar injustices persist, with exploitative labor practices disproportionately affecting low-income communities and communities of color in industries such as agriculture, technology, and of course, the fossil fuel industry. These exploitative systems are deeply intertwined with environmental degradation and the climate crisis.
The unchecked influence of billionaires and corporations has undermined the public good, prioritizing profit over people and exacerbating the climate crisis. From evading accountability for environmental destruction to lobbying against meaningful climate legislation, corporate greed perpetuates cycles of harm. Dr. King’s call for justice demands that we hold these entities accountable and advocate for policies that prioritize community well-being over corporate profit.
“One cannot be concerned just with civil rights. It is very nice to drink milk at an unsegregated lunch counter—but not when there’s Strontium 90 in it.”
As we celebrate Dr. King’s legacy, we are called to embody his values through action. This means addressing the climate crisis with the same moral clarity that Dr. King brought to the civil rights movement. It means dismantling white supremacy, championing economic and racial justice, and demanding corporate accountability. Dr. King believed that “change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” Our struggles today, though daunting, are opportunities to honor his legacy by striving for a world that reflects his vision of justice, equality, and mutual care.
Let us recommit to the values Dr. King espoused and confront the challenges of our time with courage and determination. King said, “The time is always right to do what’s right.”
So, our time is now: we must step us and counter the Governor’s and Cabinet Secretary of the Environment, James Kenney’s Strategic Water Supply Act, HB 137, sponsored by Rep. Susan Herrera, because yes in fact, strontium is a primary radioactive element in so-called "produced water" from the Permian – along with lots of other radioactive elements (and PFAS, and dissolved mineral salts, organic compounds (e.g., volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs and SVOCs), petroleum hydrocarbons, organic acids, and oils), other inorganic constituents (e.g., sulfide and ammonia), and chemical additives - all of which are very dangerous to human health and the environment). Their plan is to spend $75 million in perpetuity to “treat” (though there are no specific standards) oil and gas fluid waste and use it on “agriculture, irrigation, potable water supplies, aquifer recharge, industrial processes, or environmental restoration.” (NMED’s produced water reuse rule.)
DefendNMWater, recently sent a letter signed by 53 organizations to all legislators opposing the Strategic Water Supply Act, with an accompanying evidence fact sheet.
Today, of all days, as we honor Dr. King and as an administration by the oligarchy and for the oligarchy takes power in Washington, we must resolve to continue the struggle for justice and for Mother Earth.
We must vociferously oppose the Strategic Water Supply Act.
We must endorse and support real measures to protect our vulnerable water supplies.
We must support a PFAS Ban & Chemical Disclosure:
Ban all PFAS in O&G
Require Chemical Disclosure
Protect Human Health & the Environment
We must pass the Public Expression Protection Act to protect our civil rights.
