WildEarth Guardians has strongly condemned the New Mexico Environment Department’s decision to scale back enforcement of clean air violations and inspections of oil and gas extraction facilities in the state.
In an announcement on April 30, the New Mexico Environment Department’s Air Quality Bureau disclosed a series of actions the agency is taking to make it easier for the oil and gas industry to avoid accountability to clean air and public health. The announcement comes as the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact New Mexico and the rest of the world and even as the state remains under a stay-at-home order to protect health.
“In this unprecedented health crisis, the New Mexico Environment Department is turning its back on clean air and communities,” said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians’ Climate and Energy Program Director. “This sick indifference to human health is nothing but an attempt to appease the bankrupt oil and gas industry.”
Read the press release.
