Photos by Breanna Gonzalez.
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Mesa City Councilmember Francisco Heredia represents District 3.
Mesa is the third largest city in Arizona with a diverse population of over 518,000 people. As this number increases, it is urgent that we prioritize solutions to curb the impacts of the climate crisis so that we can build the safety and resilience our communities deserve.
The City of Mesa is taking action to make sustainable improvements for our residents, and have released a Climate Action Plan to protect and conserve Mesa’s environment and natural resources.. To bolster this effort, we need to make investments that tackle the climate crisis, and have tangible benefits for Arizonans. Fortunately, Congress is working on a bill, the Build Back Better Act, that would make a difference for our city and state that will mitigate wildfires and protect forests and watersheds, address drought impacts and land and water issues, and act boldly on the climate crisis, and we need Senator Kelly and Senator Sinema to support it.
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The Build Back Better Act passed the House of Representatives with bold investments to Create Jobs, Restore Public Lands, Act on Climate, and Reform the Federal Gas Leasing Program
(Arizona/Washington, DC) -- A group of Hispanic and Hispanic-serving community and elected leaders, including Hispanics Enjoying Camping Hunting and the Outdoors (HECHO), sent a letter to Members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources urging them to pass the Build Back Better Act with nature-based investments that will restore natural systems, protect communities against climate-fueled disasters, create millions of jobs, and reform the federal oil and gas leasing program.
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The report follows a comprehensive review of federal leasing practices and priorities and highlights how the oil and gas industry has benefitted at the expense of taxpayers, wildlife, and public lands.
Today the Department of the Interior (DOI) released a long-awaited report on the state of the federal oil and gas leasing program and includes a path forward to bring the program into the 21st century so that it works for everybody.
“For too long, our oil and gas leasing program has been utilizing outdated practices that have long-term implications for the health, stewardship, and economics of our public lands. We are excited to see that the DOI has put forward recommendations that address long-standing problems with an antiquated leasing program. Congress should use this report as a guide for reforming the fiscal policies of federal oil and gas leasing program as part of the Build Back Better Act,” said Camilla Simon, Executive Director, Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO).
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Washington D.C. -- President Biden has signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, the largest federal investment focusing on tackling the climate crisis, setting a precedent for the protection of our communities, health, and landscapes.
Addressing the climate crisis by creating jobs, advancing environmental justice, and highlighting outdoor economies, it will enhance our existing infrastructure making it resilient against the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events with key investments to protect against droughts, heat, floods, and wildfires. Water systems, roads, bridges, power infrastructure, public transit, and railway systems will receive much-needed updates to create safe, efficient, and climate-friendly solutions. It’ll tackle legacy pollution, build a national network of electric vehicle chargers, and deploy cutting-edge energy technology to achieve a zero-emissions future.
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May 27, 2021 -- Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández’s Orphaned Well Cleanup and Jobs Act of 2021 is a dynamic bill that would stimulate rural economies, create jobs, and cut down on pollution. The bill would help clean up state, private, public, and Tribal lands while also combatting the climate crisis. Passing out of the House Natural Resources Committee this week, it now heads to the House floor.
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This piece originally appeared as a press statement on May 4, 2021 via susieLee.house.gov
By Zoe Shepherd | 05/04/2021
WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Representative Susie Lee (NV-03) introduced the End Speculative Oil and Gas Leasing Act. This bill, which was introduced in the Senate by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), would promote more appropriate land-use management by prohibiting oil and gas leasing on public lands that are determined by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to have little to no potential for energy development. The bill would also reprioritize the BLM’s administration of these lands for more appropriate purposes, such as wildlife habitat preservation, outdoor recreation, mining, grazing, and renewable energy development.
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This week, 28 state and local elected officials -- representing thousands of constituents across the southwestern United States -- sent a letter to the Interior Department and Secretary Deb Haaland in support of their pause and review of the federal oil and gas leasing program. The letter, organized by Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hiking, and the Outdoors (HECHO), comes as the first opportunity for public feedback to the administration closes and the Department prepares its report on the future of the leasing program. Western voters, particularly Latinos, overwhelmingly want oil and gas development on federal public lands to be stopped or strictly limited, not expanded.
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This piece originally appeared as a press statement on April 15, 2021.
By Nolan Bush | 04/15/2021
Western, ocean, and conservation groups emphasize important opportunity to modernize the federal government’s antiquated leasing program Today, 28 leading conservation, ocean, and western advocacy organizations announced that they have shared more than 115,000 combined signatures with the Department of the Interior in support of their pause and review of the federal oil and gas leasing program. These signatures were collected in just a few weeks, during this first opportunity to provide feedback to the administration on how they can fix the broken federal leasing system so it works for everyone.
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Today Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) sponsored the End Speculative Oil and Gas Leasing Act of 2021 that would prevent oil and gas speculators from leasing public lands that offer little to no potential for energy development.
Our nation’s public lands, and the people and wildlife who rely on them, face unprecedented challenges. Among them is the threat of speculative leasing, a destructive practice that allows oil and gas companies to tie up public lands with little to no potential for development in long-term leases. Speculative leasing not only wastes important government resources, but it also puts critical wildlife habitat in harm’s way, and hinders public access to the great outdoors, threatening important opportunities to connect with the landscape that is home to valuable cultural landmarks. Thankfully, it is not too late to stop this.
Read More“We’ve been asking for commonsense updates to oil and gas leasing policies established in the 1920s for years, but this proposal is a loser. The fees we should be raising are oil and gas royalty rates, which currently offer up our public lands at rock bottom rates.
We at HECHO value both our public lands and our voices. This policy of ‘pay to say’ would not only charge $150 or more just to object to an oil and gas lease on public lands, but it would also have a chilling effect on our constitutional right to petition our government. Our deep ties to the land and generations-old traditions on the land compel us, as stewards, to reject any attempt to drown out our voices, especially when it comes to decisions being made about our public lands.
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Right now Congress is threatening to overturn a ruling by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that would save taxpayers millions of dollars and curb harmful pollution from methane waste.
The BLM rule – which HECHO worked hard to help finalize last year -- would curb natural gas waste by requiring new and existing oil and gas operations on public lands to use the most up-to-date technology to capture wasted natural gas that is either released into the atmosphere or burned off, and repair leaks from equipment. To help prevent this important ruling from being overturned, we are partnering with other Latino groups including: the Hispanic Access Foundation; Chispa Nevada; League of Conservation Voters; Mi Familia Vota; and Por la Creación Faith-based Alliance, to educate Congress, the press, and the public about this issue.
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Today, five Latino groups announced the formation of a new initiative, “Latino Partnership to Cut Waste, Protect Our Health.” The partnership includes Hispanic Access Foundation; HECHO; Chispa Nevada, League of Conservation Voters; Mi Familia Vota; and Por la Creación Faith-based Alliance.
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There’s no doubt that the oil and gas sector is an essential source of jobs and revenue to the state of New Mexico. It is a critical part of our economy. At the same time, New Mexico can’t afford to tie its fiscal health, and the welfare of our schools, colleges, and universities to the boom-and-bust cycles of fossil fuel markets.
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Decision-making about where to drill typically excludes diverse stakeholders, including Latino communities that hunt, fish, camp, and use public lands. As a result, our access to public lands for recreation, subsistence, education, and traditional cultural uses are impeded. And, worse yet, sometimes the landscape, wildlife, or water is irreparably damaged.
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