cross-posted from: https://ponder.cat/post/513776

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday responded to the Texas National Guard installing razor wire along the Rio Grande facing New Mexico.

KRQE’s sister station, KTSM, captured video showing troops putting up concertina wire and fencing on the riverbank in the El Paso, Texas, area Tuesday afternoon. The expansion came three days after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted on X that the state would triple its razor wire border barriers to “deny illegal entry into our state and our country.”

Gov. Lujan Grisham released the following statement about Texas’ actions:

Gov. Abbott seems to be pushing to make Texas its own country without regard for his neighbors or the fact that Texas is already part of a great nation—the United States. If he doesn’t think that New Mexico is important to the overall well-being of Texas, then he must be forgetting about the Permian Basin and the oil industry that straddles our two states. I don’t see him laying concertina wire there. Gov. Abbott’s latest political stunt at the border will have no meaningful impact on our nation’s broken immigration system. Only Congress can fix our federal immigration laws, and I implore Republicans in Congress to stop holding up the carefully negotiated, bipartisan agreement they are deliberately stalling in Washington at the expense of our entire nation

This is not the first time Texas has acted on concern that illegal smuggling activity going on in New Mexico would spill into Texas. Earlier this year, the state extended its barrier at a spot where the river stops running parallel to Mexico and turns north into New Mexico.

The New Mexico-facing concertina barrier extends from West Paisano Drive to the Texas side of the Anapra, N.M., bridge between El Paso and Sunland Park.

According to Border Report, The Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station in southern New Mexico is one of the busiest in the nation in terms of migrant smuggling activity; many of the 171 encounters with deceased migrants this fiscal year have occurred in the desert near Sunland Park.

> CARLSBAD, N.M. (KRQE) – A bag of Cheetos that was dropped on the ground at Carlsbad Caverns National Park had a large impact on the cave’s ecosystem, according to National Park Service staff. > > “At the scale of human perspective, a spilled snack bag may seem trivial, but to the life of the cave it can be world changing,” an NPS official wrote on Facebook on Sept. 6. Staff said the bag was found off-trail in the Big Room. The processed corn in Cheetos was softened by the humidity of the cave and “formed the perfect environment to host microbial life and fungi.” > > This in turn attracted cave crickets, mites, spiders, and flies, which then spread the mold to nearby surfaces. “Molds spread higher up the nearby surfaces, fruit, die and stink. And the cycle continues. Rangers spent twenty minutes carefully removing the foreign detritus and molds from the cave surfaces,” according to the post. > > The park’s rules say that the only food that can be consumed in the caves is unflavored water. Food and any other drinks are prohibited. Park staff encouraged visitors to be mindful of their activities to prevent things like this from happening.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/28424855

> Construction is getting underway on a state-funded reproductive health and abortion clinic in southern New Mexico that will cater to local residents and people who travel from neighboring states such as Texas and Oklahoma with major restrictions on abortion, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Thursday. > > Construction of the clinic will draw upon $10 million in state funding that was set aside by the governor under a 2022 executive order. New Mexico has one of the country’s most liberal abortion-access laws. > > Lujan Grisham, a second-term Democrat who can’t run again in 2026, reiterated her commitment to shoring up abortion access in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and revoked universal access to abortion.

> New Mexico Living is unveiling the winners for the first Best of the Land of Enchantment Awards. Starting August 19 and running until August 30, New Mexico Living hosts will announce the winners in each category. The awards aim to recognize local favorites. > > The red chile being served up at the Buckhorn Tavern is as New Mexico true as the blood that run through the veins of tavern owner, Ernie Sichler. “Red chile, my family has been growing red chile for over 100 years in the valley,” said Sichler. > > The Buckhorn Tavern recently clinched the top spot for ‘best red chile’ for the Best of the Land of Enchantment awards. An award they say they thought they could win.

John Brown Breakfast Club Barbecue and Bake Sale! We are collecting donations to serve breakfast every Saturday morning at 9 under the Coal bridge for our unhoused neighbors! We just made thirty vegan cookies from our top secret recipe book 🍪 Looking forward to seeing you there - Solidarity not Charity ✊ Happy Pride 🏳️‍🌈 well see you tomorrow 🌯 and Sunday!

Federal wildlife officials declared a rare lizard in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas an endangered species Friday, citing future energy development, sand mining and climate change as the biggest threats to its survival in one of the world’s most lucrative oil and natural gas basins.

“We have determined that the dunes sagebrush lizard is in danger of extinction throughout all of its range,” the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. It concluded that the lizard already is “functionally extinct” across 47% of its range.

Much of the the 2.5-inch-long (6.5-centimeter), spiny, light brown lizard's remaining habitat has been fragmented, preventing the species from finding mates beyond those already living close by, according to biologists.

“Even if there were no further expansion of the oil and gas or sand mining industry, the existing footprint of these operations will continue to negatively affect the dunes sagebrush lizard into the future,” the service said in its final determination, published in the Federal Register.

The decision caps two decades of legal and regulatory skirmishes between the U.S. government, conservationists and the oil and gas industry. Environmentalists cheered the move, while industry leaders condemned it as a threat to future production of the fossil fuels.

The decision provides a “lifeline for survival” for a unique species whose “only fault has been occupying a habitat that the fossil fuel industry has been wanting to claw away from it,” said Bryan Bird, the Southwest director for Defenders of Wildlife.

“The dunes sagebrush lizard spent far too long languishing in a Pandora’s box of political and administrative back and forth even as its population was in free-fall towards extinction,” Bird said in a statement.

The Permian Basin Petroleum Association and the New Mexico Oil & Gas Association expressed disappointment, saying the determination flies in the face of available science and ignores longstanding state-sponsored conservation efforts across hundreds of thousands of acres and commitment of millions of dollars in both states.

“This listing will bring no additional benefit for the species and its habitat, yet could be detrimental to those living and working in the region,” PBPA President Ben Shepperd and NMOGA President and CEO Missi Currier said in a joint statement, adding that they view it as a federal overreach that can harm communities.

https://youtu.be/2jNGjWfU7r0?si=-PXBD2Sx_9toE4Di

>The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) will administer New Mexico’s Solar for All Program, designed to make solar power available to an estimated 20,910 New Mexico households that otherwise might not be able to access this clean, renewable form of energy.

>“Our Solar for All Program is designed to reach New Mexico’s underserved communities by focusing on supporting shared solar access projects in rural and tribal communities,” said EMNRD Deputy Secretary Dylan Fuge.

Also https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-announces-state-new-mexico-will-receive-over-156-million

>EPA estimates that the 60 Solar for All recipients will enable over 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities to deploy and benefit from distributed solar energy. This $7 billion investment will generate over $350 million in annual savings on electric bills for overburdened households. The program will reduce 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions cumulatively, from over four gigawatts of solar energy capacity unlocked for low-income communities over five years. Solar and distributed energy resources help improve electric grid reliability and climate resilience, which is especially important in disadvantaged communities that have long been underserved.

https://www.nmhu.edu/eoc/

Hatch is failing me. )=

What's up /c/NewMexico. This month I'm relocating to New Mexico, in East Mountain. Any advice for a newcomer who is looking to lay down roots.

https://www.krqe.com/entertainment-news/2023-pirate-viking-festival-invades-edgewood/

> This year’s Pirate Viking Summer Festival will boast 10 food and drink vendors and dozens of craft merchants. If you’ve never tried mead and are curious, there will be plenty of opportunities to try the honey-based wine as well. “The whole premise behind mead is it was easier to ferment and keep and you can make plenty of it, as long as you had honey,” says Vigil. > > The Pirate Viking Summer Festival is happening August 19 and 20 at the Wildlife West Nature Park at 87 N Frontage Rd. in Edgewood, NM. Gates open at 10:00 a.m. on both days. Saturday festivities wrap up at 6:00 p.m. and the festival ends at 5:00 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets are $25 at the gate.