Author Archives | Lora Lucero
Lora Lucero, Esq. is a long-time resident of Albuquerque, a land use attorney, city planner, community gardener and community journalist. She recently returned from a year abroad living in Gaza, Palestine where she taught climate change to environmental engineering students.
The Scorecard on ABQ Sprawl
The Albuquerque region has been engaged in an epic growth battle for at least the past decade. Much of the struggle occurs in the city council chambers, in the county commission public hearings, and in water and air board meetings. The combatants are large landholders, property developers and businesses (think Chamber of Commerce and NAIOP) on one side, pitted against neighborhood activists, conservationists, smart businesses, planners and good government folks on the other.
One side wants business-as-usual (BAU) where the levers of public power can be manipulated for private gain. The other side sees a very different future...
Continue reading...Air Quality Board passes the buck again!
18. March 2014
On Wednesday, the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Board ruled against SWOP’s (Southwest Organizing Project) request for a public hearing. SWOP and community members were hoping the board would set a future meeting to consider a new rule to require a cumulative air quality impact analysis in the permitting process.
“Cumulative impacts” appeared to stump some members of the board. When a new industry moves into the neighborhood today, the applicant provides information about the types and amount of pollutants that will spew from his own smokestack. SWOP’s draft rule would have required the air quality board to consider the pollutants coming from all of the smokestacks in the neighborhood; hence “cumulative impacts"...
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22. March 2014
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