Press Conference Advisory: Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 9:15 am
Rotunda, Roundhouse at the corner of Old Santa Fe Trail and Paseo de Peralta
Topic: Map Documenting Community Water Concerns to be Released as Part of Legislative Day for People of Faith Concerned about Clean Air, Water and Earth
Contact: Joan Brown, Partnership for Earth Spirituality
505-266-6966 (Albuquerque), joankansas@swcp.com
Joni Arends, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety
505-986-1973 (Santa Fe), jarends@nuclearactive.org
A map documenting community and people of faith concerns for water will be released Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 9:15 in the Rotunda of the State Capitol. The document release is part of a Legislative Day for People of Faith Concerned for Water, Land, Air and People. The project was initiated by people of faith and communities concerned about water and funded by the Catholic Sisters of Mercy – Northeast Community.
The purpose of the map is to document how current and historical industrial activities impact the urban and rural populations and the health of wildlife, plants, birds and fish, as well as the natural resources of water, air and land. This will become increasingly important as New Mexico moves into longer and more intense times of drought due to climate change.
"Water is a sacred trust and it is threatened in our state. That is why we have spent more than a year researching and producing a map and corresponding documented information about impacts to water, air and land in New Mexico,” noted Sister Marlene Perrotte, rsm. Sister Perrotte is a board member of the Partnership for Earth Spirituality, which initiated the map project envisioning it as a tool that community groups could use to educate and engage citizenry in protecting their communities.
The map and corresponding information in brochure and on websites details the major waters of the state and areas that are compromised from dirty energy sources of oil and gas industry, the nuclear fuel chain and coal fired power plants.
Lead organizations involved in the map creation, with the professional map maker Deborah Reade of Santa Fe, include: Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, MASE (Multi-Cultural Alliance for Safe Environment) and the Partnership for Earth Spirituality. Professional map maker Deborah Reade created the document which will be given to legislators and community groups to assist with education to create policies to protect the Land of Enchantment and her people.