New Mexico environmental coalition urges Biden to reject hydrogen hub project
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Jun. 14—A New Mexico coalition of Indigenous and environmental organizations sent a letter this week to energy leaders in President Joe Biden's administration, asking them to reject plans to develop an interstate hydrogen energy hub favored by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
In the Tuesday letter to Energy Department Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations Director David Crane, the group urged rejection of the Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub application submitted by leaders of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
The New Mexico No False Solutions Coalition wrote the project would "devastate public health, clean air, Indigenous sacred places and the climate, and does not have the support of communities in New Mexico who would be the most impacted by the proposal, particularly poor and people of color who already experience cumulative impacts on their health, environment, social and economic wellbeing."
Alejandría Lyons, a coalition coordinator, said in an interview the grassroots organizations want the Biden administration to know "our concerns as community members."
The coalition includes Pueblo Action Alliance, Indigenous Lifeways, Tó Nizhóní Ání, Los Jardines Institute, Youth United for Climate Crisis Action, Earth Care, New Energy Economy, WildEarth Guardians and the Center for Biological Diversity.
Lujan Grisham pushed for legislation to create a hub for production and storage of hydrogen power in New Mexico in 2022, but the initiative failed. Shortly after the legislative session ended that year, the governor signed off on a joint agreement with the governors of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming to compete for federal funds aimed at developing hydrogen hubs.
She said at the time the initiative would lead to clean energy and meet the governors' shared goals of addressing climate change and creating jobs.
Matthew Maez, a spokesman for the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, wrote in an email: "Hydrogen is essential to reaching our climate goals, including net zero by 2050. Wind and solar energy are key components of New Mexico's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from sources that power homes, businesses, and electric vehicles."
He added, "It is a false solution to think that we can get to net zero without clean hydrogen."
The memorandum of understanding signed by the four governors lays out broad guidelines for creating the Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub, in which each state pledges to create its own facilities but agrees not to compete for federal money on its own.
The Biden administration plans to invest about $7 billion to create 10 regional clusters of hydrogen production and use with money from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Energy Department is reviewing the applications for funding, including from the Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub, which seeks $1.25 billion.
The state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department said in April the hub has identified eight proposed hydrogen projects across the four states, with four of the projects totally or partially based in New Mexico.
One of the projects would be run by the Navajo Nation and support a 275,000-acre commercial farm that wants to grow produce in greenhouses for tribal members.
