On July 16, 2024, San Juan Citizens Alliance (SJCA) participated in flights over the Four Corners Region through Ecoflight, continuing a 15-year partnership documenting energy transition and economic diversification through aerial vantage points.
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In the wake of coal plant and coal mine retirements in northwestern New Mexico, our community stands at a pivotal moment. The impacts of these closures have reverberated through every aspect of our lives, prompting us to reassess and prepare…
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La Plata Electric Association has seen a lot of change over the past several months. From receiving its buy-out calculation and voting to exit its contract with Tri-State, filing suit against Tri-State, issuing a pass-through rate increase, to a major…
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2023 was a great year for local climate and energy wins! La Plata County adopted the strictest community protections from oil and gas on the Western Slope, which includes a hard requirement to maintain at least a 400-foot buffer between homes…
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Our work to protect the landscapes and communities across the San Juan Basin is oft-times a roller-coaster. While we were recently celebrating the tangible energy transition from coal to solar with groundbreaking at the San Juan Solar project near Farmington,…
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Spring is upon us and in Southwest Colorado that means forthcoming elections for the La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) Board of Directors. Each year, the member-owners of LPEA (anyone with an electric meter account) choose the directors to manage the electric cooperative.…
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Several bills were heard yesterday in the New Mexico Legislative Session House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee with good outcomes! 1. The Oil and Gas Subdivision Parcels Bill (HB 136) was drafted purportedly to address exemptions to subdividing lands to…
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Since we couldn't see everyone in person this year, we made a video to show you what our staff has been up to & update you on some of our top campaigns! Check it out!
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SJCA believes that responsible management of our public lands protects our communities’ heritage, supports healthy wildlife and their habitat, sustains a strong and self-reliant economy, and preserves our quality of life for generations to come. To help our members and…
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This November, Colorado residents will vote on Proposition 107. If passed, it will require the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife to reintroduce wolves to the state by the end of 2023. Colorado State University’s Center for Carnivore-Human Coexistence, in…
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By Diana Vernazza Here in Southwest Colorado, the weather is beginning to turn warmer, the rivers are rising and trees slowly leafing out. The first butterflies of the season are looking for nectar, and the birds are noisily building nests.…
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Breaking: The Trump Administration has proposed changes that would rollback critical elements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a bedrock environmental law. NEPA is fundamental to protecting public health, safety, and our environment, and the vast majority of Western…
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This is a big step forward for protecting the rivers and taxpayer dollars in Colorado! While the federal 1872 Mining Law is still in desperate need of reform, this improvement for Colorado provides long overdue protections for our water resources…
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It’s been over two years since the designation of the Bonita Peak Mining District Superfund site above Silverton, CO, and questions remain as to the severity and extent of more than a century of hard-rock mining pollution in the upper…
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Animas River after the Gold King Mine Spill, August 2015. Photo by Kathy Myrick. "The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land." - Luna Leopold More than two years after…
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“The budget request before us today is downright offensive. I can’t square this with your rhetoric about returning EPA to its core responsibilities. Nothing was spared. EPA’s core is hollowed out...These cuts aren’t an intent to rein in spending, they…
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By Guest Blogger: Donna Stewart Part II in a four part series on Renewable Energy. See Part I, The Rising Tide of Renewable Energy You could say solar power was “discovered” when humans first started strategically setting crops to optimize…
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Just in time for my first week on the job, returning to the role of Executive Director at SJCA, I was greeted by a new presidential administration’s assault on Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (CANM). Déjà vu all over…
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Photo: Alex Pullen By Chris Wilkins I’ve learned a lot of things serving on the SJCA board – how a non-profit budget works, how many acronyms there are in the government, how LONG everything takes in the environmental world. It…
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By Chuck McAfee Thirty years for San Juan Citizens Alliance—this year we’re 30 years old and more effective than ever. That’s what comes to mind when I think about the Alliance. The reasons that we are here are so fundamental—air,…
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Last night we hosted an event called Cookies for Calls: No Pruitt for EPA. We handed out homemade cookies to those of you who stopped by and made a call to your Senators. Many of you had never called an…
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By Mark Pearson, Former SJCA Executive Director and Current Board Member Like you, I’ve been captivated by the wild landscapes of the San Juans and southwest Colorado for many years. That’s why I quickly gravitated to San Juan Citizens Alliance…
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Photo: Alex Pullen If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Frederick Douglass There is no lack of struggle in our work. We constantly grapple to prioritize campaigns against myriad threats to our community, find creative solutions to roadblocks and are challenged…
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Here’s a question for you. Can I call President-elect Donald Trump out as a dangerously uninformed and unprincipled bigot without alienating his supporters? Better question. Why am I worried about alienating someone who voted for a dangerously uninformed and unprincipled…
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Friends, At the close of the constitutional convention in 1787, Ben Franklin strode out the doors of Independence Hall to be greeted by a question from an onlooker in the crowd. “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a…
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Need some levity? This is for you. When you’re ready to take on reality again, check out some information we put together about the Four Corners Power Plant. Warning: It’s not that funny.
This is a great short video by our friends at Backcountry Hunters and Anglers on the standoff at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. It’s an important sanctuary, particularly for birds, and belongs to each of us.
This holiday season I’d like to propose a corollary to Durango’s well-loved buy local movement: give local. December is a month awash in fundraising requests, and let’s face it: being on the receiving end can get tiresome. But let’s face…
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We just finished our latest newsletter and it's heading to your mailbox this week! It covers our work on regional ozone, protecting Chaco from rampant oil and gas development and our commitment to ensuring permanent clean up of the Animas…
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In his Tuesday column, “The Republicans’ Incompetence Caucus,” conservative New York Times writer David Brooks excoriated the more radical elements of the Republican Party. Sordid intra-party politics playing out in broad daylight, now that’s a writer’s ticket. And yet, I’ll…
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Ever wonder what the Alliance has been up to? Or how we put your donations to work? If so, this blog is for you. As we head into 2015, we thought we’d take a moment to recap some of our…
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Welcome to the Alliance’s new website, our completely overhauled home on the web designed to help folks stay abreast of Alliance campaigns and take action when public participation is needed. With all the bells and whistles of a 21st century…
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Wow. A new and really hard-hitting storyline from Conservation International. Nature Doesn’t Need People, People Need Nature. Check out the storyline – told through a series of short vidoes – at natureisspeaking.org. Here’s one narrated by Julia Roberts: https://youtu.be/WmVLcj-XKnM?list=PL5WqtuU6JrnXjsGO4WUpJuSVmlDcEgEYb
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It’s the fifth of July, and it’s early. I’m alone on a dirt road in the mountains, climbing. The American flag dominates my thoughts, three archetypes rising from somewhere deep. The angry flag In 2003, I marched down Massachusetts Avenue…
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Ever think we place too much emphasis on leaders? We do, too. This video shows that it’s the first follower, not the leader, that creates a movement. What lesson can we learn as community activists? https://youtu.be/V74AxCqOTvg?list=LLlTTFRO9bPoJJ1WIEcFlDGg
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So many small organizations struggle to stay focused – especially small organizations with tight budgets that need focus more than anything else. Great short clip of Steve Jobs describing focus, or strategy, as what you say “no” to, not “yes.”…
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We are always looking for great examples of storytelling here at the Alliance. And man... did we find one with this video. Engaging, hilarious, and convincing (even if we don’t fully support the “buy this way to save the world”…
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We couldn’t help it.... here’s another video from This is Reality ripping on “ clean coal. " Too funny....! https://youtu.be/uFJVbdiMgfM
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