New NM Rep. Kay Bounkeua & Balancing Renewable Energy with Local Impacts | 8.30.21

30/08/2021 39 min Temporada 15 Episodio 18

Listen "New NM Rep. Kay Bounkeua & Balancing Renewable Energy with Local Impacts | 8.30.21"

Episode Synopsis

Organizer and activist Kay Bounkeua is taking over for former legislative powerhouse Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton, who resigned in the face of alleged financial improprieties. Believed to be the first Asian American woman to hold office in the Legislature, Bounkeua sits down with NMiF senior producer Matt Grubs to talk representation and redistricting.
Plans for the SunZia Transmission Project have been in the works since 2006, with $150 million already spent. That $4 billion project is supposed to someday bring wind-generated power from New Mexico to markets in Arizona and California. This week, correspondent Laura Paskus talks to John Ryan, SunZia New Mexico executive director, and Sandra Noll, who lives in Socorro County and worries how the project will affect migrating birds, ecotourism and the rural communities nearby. We know we need to transition to more renewable energy, but the question is how to balance that with local impacts?
Correspondents:
Matt Grubs, NMiF senior producer
Laura Paskus, NMiF environmental producer
Guests:
Rep. Kay Bounkeua, NM House District 19
Sandra Noll, Protect Our Rio Grande
John Ryan, executive director, SunZia New Mexico
For More Information:
Kay Bounkeua appointed to fill seat vacated by Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton – KOB-4
SunZia New Mexico project homepage:
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2011785/510
Fact sheet: https://eplanning.blm.gov/public_projects/2011785/200481766/20041399/250047592/Newsletter1_NOI_6.4_v3_06%20162021_508.pdf
To submit public comment on the project:
https://www.blm.gov/press-release/comment-period-and-public-meeting-update-sunzia-southwest-transmission-project