New Mexico Mercury

New Mexico Mercury

A Window into the Martinez Administration’s Environmental Policy Decisions

October 15, 2013

By Demis Foster

Yesterday, we released a new tool to shine a light onto Governor Susana Martinez and her administration’s decisions that affect our air, land and water.

Our new website, SunshineOnMartinez.org, serves as the public’s window into the decisions of Gov. Susana Martinez and her administration that impact the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land where we live and play. On the site, you can find responses to Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) requests, the original requests to the administration, related news, opinion and multimedia.

Since before taking office, Governor Martinez has pledged open and transparent government. We know that New Mexicans care deeply about protecting the natural resources we need for our families, our farms and ranches and our economy.  Our new website provides you an easy way to find all the information you need to judge for yourself if that pledge has been upheld when it comes to decisions that affect New Mexico’s livelihoods.

SunshineOnMartinez.org includes the Martinez administration’s responses to many relevant requests submitted under IPRA by CVNMEF, other public interest organizations and various individuals. We regularly compile media coverage of the Martinez administration’s record on conservation issues. SunshineOnMartinez.org is intended to serve as a “one stop shop” for those looking for information on Gov. Martinez and the decisions she makes about our air, land and water.

The site includes information about fracking, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, copper mine water protection rules, calendars for the director of the Oil Conservation Division, oil and gas pit rules, an air pollution reduction plan for the San Juan Generating Station, and more.

We believe that protecting our environment begins with the people of New Mexico. It is our mission to engage the people of New Mexico in our long-standing shared values of protecting our air, land, water and the health of our communities. We do this by mobilizing people to advocate on policy, enhancing the voting process, encouraging people to vote, cultivating conservation leaders and amplifying the voices of those most affected.

This piece was written by:

Demis Foster

Demis Foster is the Executive Director of Conservation Voters New Mexico, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization working to protect New Mexico’s environment and its cherished way of life. Demis is a veteran conservationist with more than two decades of experience as a grassroots organizer, environmental advocate and consultant. She has worked hard to ensure protection for places such as Chaco Canyon and our newly designated Rio Grande del Norte National Monument near Taos. She has worked for the Wolf Recovery Foundation—the first organization in Idaho dedicated to the restoration of wolves in the Rockies, and spent18 years working on environmental issues while exploring the backcountry of the Olympic and Cascade mountains.

In 2004, Demis was awarded the National Leadership Award for outstanding leadership in protecting public lands for her work as the Director of the Ancient Forest Roadshow—a year-long outreach tour with two teams traveling across the nation with a 1,000-lb. crosscut section from an old-growth Douglas Fir tree.