Climate change -The Global Emergency

Natural climate solutions, such as reforestation and wetland restoration, can help slow climate change and increase resilience in the face of climate impacts we can’t avoid.

These approaches have substantial and growing support from bipartisan lawmakers, the private sector and environmental nonprofits. However, big questions remain: Where are these strategies most effective? To what extent can they meaningfully remove and reduce greenhouse gases? How will increased drought, fire and pest outbreaks impact their ability to stave off climate change?

A new report I co-authored with leading ecosystem scientists and policy experts provides a scientific roadmap for answering these questions. “The science needed for robust, scalable and credible nature-based climate solutions for the United States” identifies critical scientific gaps that must be filled to support the large-scale implementation of natural climate solutions and build confidence that those solutions are slowing warming. It also lays out a research agenda to fill these knowledge gaps.

New Mexico is home to one of the most ecologically diverse landscapes in the United States and a rich tapestry of cultures. New Mexicans love their state and take pride in keeping their land, air and water pristine for future generations. However, climate change poses a serious threat to the Land of Enchantment.

Every year, New Mexicans see and feel more and more severe climate impacts across the state. So far in 2022, New Mexico experienced the worst wildfire in its history, which burned more than 340,000 acres and destroyed more than 900 structures. Painful images of the Rio Grande running dry this summer and the devastation from the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon megafire are reminders that climate change continues to wreak havoc on New Mexicans’ livelihoods, cultures, recreational activities and even access to clean drinking water are all under threat. For these reasons, communities will look to our state policymakers for strong leadership on climate policy in the next legislative session. Action that will bring pollution down to safer levels and protect the state’s people, water, and land for generations to come.

Over the past several years, the state has made significant progress on climate change, including through the Energy Transition Act to reduce pollution from power plants, new nationally leading methane rules to reduce pollution from oil and gas production, and zero-emission vehicle standards to increase EV sales in the state and reduce pollution from transportation. While these have been milestone policies, additional policies are still critically needed to achieve science-based pollution reduction targets that will create a safer and more prosperous New Mexico. These additional policies are also necessary to reduce pollution in communities that have been most harmed by air pollution, including in tribal communities, as well as communities of color and people living below the poverty line.

EDF and our partners are fighting for effective and equitable climate solutions in the Land of Enchantment. In the upcoming legislative session, the state’s leaders have an opportunity to combine science-based goals to reduce climate pollution, accelerate a just transition to a healthier, more diversified and resilient economy, and ensure state agencies have the tools and resources necessary to assist communities and hold polluters accountable on the way to net-zero climate pollution by 2050. It’s an essential step forward and will make New Mexico a national leader in the fight against climate change.