KUNM News Update
Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources are raising concerns about ties between Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and an Indigenous group from her home state that advocates for halting oil and gas production on public lands.
Let's Talk New Mexico
On the next Let’s Talk New Mexico we’ll talk about residential solar power. We’ll go over government incentives to make solar power more affordable, whether solar installations are now affordable enough to make sense economically, and we’ll discuss the environmental impact solar power and the equipment to produce it can have. We’ll also talk about those folks knocking on doors trying to get homeowners to sign up.
Local News
The U.S. Forest Service scheduled two prescribed burns last week in the southwest part of the state despite a red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service. Ultimately the agency burned the day before, but not the day of the warning. However, officials also said a new state law does not apply to the federal agency.
Mountain West News Bureau Water Series
For decades, many tribal communities have lacked clean, affordable drinking water. And that impacts everything from childhood health to economic development. This series from the Mountain West News Bureau explores those issues – and potential solutions – along the Rio Grande and beyond. It's supported by The Water Desk, an initiative from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism.
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Dead trees, debris and erosion from the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire still clutter people’s land in northern New Mexico. To help figure out how much it’ll cost to restore and repair natural resources on their property, the Federal Emergency Management Agency Claims Office has teamed up with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service to offer repair estimates to the disaster victims.
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Hundreds of square miles in New Mexico will be withdrawn from further oil and gas production for the next 20 years on the outskirts of Chaco Culture National Historical Park that tribal communities consider sacred, the Biden administration ordered Friday.
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Calls to ban books in public libraries have popped up around the country, with the American Library Association reporting a record number of demands to censor books in 2022. Recently the battle came to Rio Rancho, but those challenges were unsuccessful.
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New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard issued an executive order Thursday that includes a ban on all new oil and gas leases on state trust land within a mile of schools or other educational institutions, including day care centers, preschools and sports facilities that students use.
Mountain West News Bureau
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A new analysis from Climate Central shows that summer temperatures have risen steadily across the United States over the last half century, a trend that’s even sharper in the American West. The report chalks up much of the blame to climate change, but a researcher says that in urban areas the built environment can also play a huge role in temperature jumps.
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Water is scarce in much of the Mountain West. That’s why, every spring, one tribe spends days cleaning ditches that are vital to irrigating their farmlands. But aging infrastructure and the effects of climate change are making it harder for farmers to get enough water – even after the cleanings.
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