Heinrich: American Jobs Act would help New Mexico address effects of climate change

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Jun. 12—U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and other congressional Democrats said in a virtual news conference this week the proposed American Jobs Act would help fight the growing effects of climate change in the Southwest and across the nation.

During a meeting hosted by advocacy organization Climate Power, New Mexico's Heinrich, along with Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado and Rep. Kathy Castor of Florida, discussed the climate components of the Biden administration's $2 trillion, decadelong plan to improve infrastructure, including in New Mexico.

"I believe that we cannot afford to shortchange investments in climate resilience and in clean energy," Heinrich said at the Wednesday event. "This is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to power our economic recovery, to put Americans to work by solving our long-term climate challenge."

If the law passes, according to Climate Power, water management systems in New Mexico will get a big boost. Rebuilding water and wastewater infrastructure could help mitigate the extreme effects of the current drought and prevent extreme flooding, Heinrich said.

Outdated transmission systems cause about 10 percent of wildfire ignitions, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Improving energy production and transmission systems also is a vital part of the jobs plan, Heinrich said.

A bigger shift to renewable energy also would provide New Mexicans with jobs while preparing for a new environmental reality, he added.

"This is the new climate reality," Heinrich said. "This is the new normal that we are grappling with, and we urgently need to rebuild and repair our infrastructure to reflect this costly reality.

"Building a 21st-century infrastructure means confronting the climate crisis that has left so much of our 20th-century infrastructure vulnerable to extreme weather events."