By Ben Neary
NMWF Conservation Director
ALBUQUERQUE — Top New Mexico officials and world-renowned anthropologist Jane Goodall all voiced support for taking immediate action to address climate disruption. Their comments came in recorded opening remarks that kicked off the “New Mexico Rising–Making a Difference” event on Friday.
The event, which includes films, lectures and conversation about the climate disruption crisis, started Fri., Sept. 6, and runs through 5 p.m. Sat., Sept. 7, at the UNM Continuing Education Building at 1634 University Blvd. NE.
Ray Powell, former New Mexico commissioner of public lands, introduced taped statements by Goodall and members of the state’s congressional delegation. Powell used to work with Goodall, who’s well known for her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees.
“I think a really, really important message is that each and every one of us give something back to the planet every day,” Goodall said.
Goodall acknowledged that many people on the planet are so poor they have no choice but to level forests so they can plant crops. Others, she said, live in cities and have no choice but to buy the cheapest food for their families.
Yet Goodall, who lives in New Mexico when she’s not traveling, said she draws hope from the energy and commitment of the young people she sees who are committed to changing the world and addressing the climate change.
“Together we can change the world,” Goodall said. “Together we will save the planet, but we must take action now.”
The event featured taped introductions from U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich as well as Rep. Deb Haaland, all New Mexico Democrats.
Udall said there’s an immediate need to act to reduce climate change to save the planet. He said he wants to protect wildlife and ecosystems that sustain both humans and wildlife.
Heinrich said young people are counting on society to respond and address climate change. He said climate disruption poses existential threats to our forests and lands that New Mexicans have depended on for centuries.
Haaland said recent increases in temperatures are unprecedented in our lifetimes. “It’s up to all of us to speak up and stand up for the fish, plants, animals and trees,” she said.
Dr. David Gutzler, a professor at the University of New Mexico Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, opened Friday’s session by saying there’s no doubt the world in general and New Mexico in particular are getting warmer.
“It’s really warmer than it was a half-century ago, and it’s heating up,” Gutzler said. He dismissed any argument humans aren’t to blame for the steady rise in temperature, saying it’s undeniably from burning fossil fuels.
At the current rate of warming, the Sandia Mountains around Albuquerque will look like the Franklin Mountains around El Paso — with no trees — by the year 2100, Gutzler said.
“Are they just going to dissolve?” Gutzler asked about the trees in the Sandias. “No, they’re going to burn.”
New Mexico also faces lower river flows and water supplies in years to come, Gutzler said.
The average temperature already has increased about 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times, Gutzler said. Under the Paris Agreement, nations around the world agreed to take steps to keep the average from rising more than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels and to try to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees.
“There was a president once upon a time who lauded that plan as historic,” Gutzler said of the Paris Agreement. “There was another president who came along and ditched it.”
President Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of the agreement, which was negotiated by President Barack Obama’s administration. Trump this summer failed to attend a meeting on climate change held at the G7 meeting of international leaders.
“We’re already in the soup when it comes to changing climate,” Gutzler said. “But we have choices to make about how severe that climate change is going to be.”
Dr. Sandra Steingraber, a biologist who led the successful push to outlaw fracking in New York, introduced a film titled “Unfractured” about her personal story.
Steingraber said she continues to lobby against fracking to protect human health and because the methane released by the practice “swings a wrecking ball at the climate.”
Steingraber said fracking requires large amounts of methane to be released into the environment. While our planet is burning, methane is not a fire extinguisher, she said, “it is an arsonist.”
“Fracking is now standing in the way of our aspirations to hand our children a livable planet.”
The New Mexico Wildlife Federation helped to organize the event. Jesse Deubel, executive director of the NNMF, said the thing that drew all participants together at the event is that they care about the planet. “And we care about our children and our future generations,” he said.