Story at a glance
- On Wednesday, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) signed an executive order that launches a new environmental protection initiative.
- Called the 30×30 plan, the framework was first launched on a national level by the Biden administration.
- Recent research suggests climate change is fueling dangerous heat and drought conditions that are plaguing the American West.
On Wednesday, New Mexico joined the Biden administration’s ambitious 30×30 plan, which aims to preserve 30 percent of American land and water sources by 2030.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) signed an executive order yesterday that will conserve at least 30 percent of all lands in New Mexico by 2030.
“My administration has been working since day one to protect and preserve New Mexico’s environment and public lands,” Lujan Grisham wrote on Twitter. “Today I’m proud to take our conservation efforts one step further by signing an executive order to conserve at least 30 percent of all lands in New Mexico by 2030.”
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The executive order specifically calls for using state resources to preserve potable water sources, biodiversity and food security alongside “traditional ways of life,” including natural resources significant to the state’s Native American communities.
The 30×30 commitment runs parallel to the Paris Agreement’s climate goals, which asks major industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to stop global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Under the 30×30 framework, scientists recommend using government powers to protect at least 30 percent of global lands and watersheds, along with classifying an additional 20 percent as climate stabilization areas.
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The state’s commitment to environmental protection and preservation comes at a pivotal time in the world’s fight against climate change and its effects. Like other western states, New Mexico has dealt with moderate to severe droughts for years, which raise the probability of destructive wildfires. Research suggests that this extreme heat is caused by anthropomorphic — or human caused — climate change.
Most recently, the United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its sixth annual assessment report on global climate change and called for urgent action on part of major nations to reduce their emissions levels to prevent irreversible damage.
By preserving and protecting natural ecosystems, as outlined in the 30×30 campaign, governments can ensure carbon sequestration, or carbon capture, processes by native plants and trees.
“I believe that New Mexico is going to lead the country in 30 by 30 conservation efforts that really make a difference for generations to come,” Lujan Grisham said during the signing ceremony, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
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