County explores bringing global sustainability center to Santa Fe

Jan. 5—Santa Fe, a destination city nestled about an hour's drive from two national laboratories, has been at the cutting edge of scientific solutions for decades — and it could do more to advance global sustainability.

That's the idea Santa Fe County Commissioner Justin Greene has been peddling in the face of climate change.

Last month, at Greene's request, commissioners directed County Manager Greg Shaffer to negotiate an agreement with the University of New Mexico to study the need for and feasibility of building a "global sustainability collaboration center" in or around Santa Fe, funded by $100,000 from the state.

The county secured funds for the feasibility study last year after the center caught the interest of state Rep. Tara Lujan, a Santa Fe Democrat.

Greene's idea for the project originated about five years ago when Triad National Security LLC took over managing Los Alamos National Laboratory. One of the three entities that make up Triad — along with the Texas A&M University System and the University of California — is the Columbus, Ohio-based Battelle Memorial Institute.

A nonprofit that manages several national labs, Battelle annually reinvests millions of dollars into STEM initiatives across the country and in 2018 invited jurisdictions surrounding LANL to propose local science and technology-focused projects for funding, Greene said.

"I'm not going to let this opportunity go to waste," he said.

The vision for the project that has emerged since — which has had several labels, such as the Department of Energy Collaboration Center or the New Mexico Institute for Sustainability and Innovation — is an "interdisciplinary think tank for applied science toward global sustainability," Greene said.

That means governments and organizations across the globe could pitch their needs — such as implementing new solar or carbon capture technologies, for example — to the center, which would bring postdoctoral researchers together with engineers, economists, lawyers, entrepreneurs and public policy specialists to develop actionable solutions.

The center also could "showcase what our local institutions are already doing" and expand the reach of their innovations, Greene said. He hopes not only scientists from LANL and Sandia National Laboratories take an interest in the center but also higher education institutions such as Santa Fe Community College and surrounding pueblos.

"We're looking at something that is much bigger than our region being located in our region, so we have to do our homework to find out if we want to do it, if we see the need, if we have the money to do it, [and] if the state and other partners want to get behind it," he said.

"Is this the right place to do it? Maybe," Greene added. "But we're taking the first step to see if this is feasible here. ... It's going to take a few leading organizations in government, economic development and academic, research and science areas."

Other county commissioners praised the idea for a center, although they shied away from committing Santa Fe County to lead the way on the project.

Commissioner Anna Hamilton said in a February meeting, before voting to table a resolution on the center, she sees the "critical importance of climate change and sustainability work, and I can see that having this institute would offer job opportunities to people."

However, she added, "This is something that is a big commitment."

Greene then introduced a "zero commitment" resolution that passed unanimously in December, passing the project to UNM for a study this spring.

"I think this is a very small start to something that has great potential for our area," Commissioner Hank Hughes said at the December meeting, "so I'm glad we're moving in the direction of at least facilitating this idea."