CVNM’s 2013 Conservation Scorecard: Legislative actions to protect our water were the exception

Today, we unveiled the statewide 2013 Conservation Scorecard. The Scorecard reflects the deep disagreement over the management of our state’s scarce water supplies.

As our population grows and water supplies dwindle—exacerbated by the growing effects of climate change—we must work even harder to keep the water we have clean. Sadly, the votes tell the story: legislative actions to proactively protect our water were the exception, not the rule.

For the third year, our Conservation Scorecard is available online via a fully interactive website at CVNM.org/Scorecard.

The 2013 Scorecard includes 10 Senate votes and 13 House votes on issues which include water and public health protections, clean energy, and land and wildlife conservation. More than half of the measures scored this year affect our threatened water supplies.

Unfortunately, partisanship on conservation issues is an entrenched and persistent problem. We know that all New Mexicans want clean air and water for their families and communities, but this isn’t reflected in the voting records of the legislature.

The Scorecard provides objective, non-partisan information about votes cast on the most critical conservation issues of the 2013 legislative session. In the Scorecard, we assessed the impact of the session on New Mexico’s air, land, water and healthy communities. It also provides New Mexicans an evaluation of the conservation performance of the Governor.

CVNM is connecting the people of New Mexico to their political power to protect our air, land and water for a healthy Land of Enchantment. We do this by mobilizing voters, winning elections, holding elected officials accountable and advancing responsible public policies.




This piece was written by:

Demis Foster's photo

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.


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