State and federal leaders met with advocates on Wednesday at the capitol building in Santa Fe to discuss how New Mexico can balance infrastructure development and green energy with equity and environmental justice.
New Mexico has received nearly $7 billion dollars in federal money from the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fund hundreds of projects around the state. It鈥檚 also for crude oil production, with federal money from royalties filling its coffers in boom times. That presents challenges when discussing solutions to climate change.
This was the first Infrastructure Development and Environmental Justice roundtable, which was coordinated and hosted by State Rep. Dayan Hochman-Vigil (D-Albuquerque), chair of the House Transportation, Public Works and Capital Improvements Committee.
鈥淲e have a ton of federal money that's coming down the pike to us, and it's really important as New Mexicans who live our values, that we spend that money and build infrastructure in a way that is sensitive and just to our communities who need protection the most,鈥� Hochman-Vigil said.
Los Jardines Institute was among the community organizations that participated. The group鈥檚 co-coordinator, Sophia Martinez, said the state can鈥檛 keep relying on oil and gas and New Mexicans also need to know where federal money is going.
鈥淚t's a double-edged sword for our communities,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ecause we see a lot of talk about directing funding to our communities. But it doesn't really happen.鈥�
Hochman-Vigil noted that New Mexico is a largely rural state but a lot of the resources come in discretionary grant form, which makes it difficult for communities to access those funds.
鈥淎ll of our communities should have an equal shot at these funds,鈥� she said.
U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) said that despite the federal government making huge strides with the passing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, they鈥檙e still trying to figure it out.
鈥淭hey're trying to structurally change the entire way the federal government does funding,鈥� she said.
A tracks funding and projects. New Mexico could bring in even more money from the infrastructure law through grants, but Martinez says local community organizations don't have the staff or capacity to seek that money.
One barrier to addressing this is the . Voters did approve an amendment to the clause in 2022 to make it easier for the state to invest in infrastructure. But it still prohibits the state from giving money to local organizations directly.
Stansbury said that the state needs to remove the anti-donation clause to help nonprofits and community groups.
鈥淪o that they can build that capacity, because as long as it's there, basically we're hamstringing ourselves,鈥� she said.
She encouraged legislators to address this in the upcoming session.
This story has been updated to reflect that Rep. Hochman-Vigil coordinated this event.
Support from the coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
