Welcome to the website for the
New Mexico Citizens Alliance for Responsible Energy and Sustainability
NMCARES
To illustrate the scenic and historical nature of this area, here are some of the road signs, present and past.
Please note that the communities mentioned on the right-hand sign are still alive and vibrant. This is who we are.
Interstate 25 (above, left) was built through here in the late 1960s.
This is also the route of the old Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, now Burlington Northern Santa Fe.
The State of New Mexico is in the process of purchasing this line from BNSF.
All freight traffic has been moved south so the track can be shared by the New Mexico Rail Runner and Amtrak's Southwest Chief (above, right).
This is considered one of Amtrak's most scenic sections.
Our Mesa
Here are some images of the mesa we seek to protect, as seen from various perspectives around the area.
Click an image to see a larger version.
This is a view of the sunrise, coming up behind the mesa, taken from about 50' outside our front door. Starvation Peak, a prominent landmark along the historic Santa Fe Trail National Byway, is off to the left. Glorious, isn't it?
If Invenergy puts its industrial wind facility up there, we would have a full silhouette of forty-some 1.5-megawatt turbines, each the size of a 40-story-tall building, with their associated shadow and flicker, every morning instead. At night, the mesa-top would be alive with blinking red aircraft warning lights. There is little doubt that this project would have a significant negative impact on our property's value, and perhaps on our health as well.
Invenergy wants to put its towers up there, not because we have particularly good wind, but because it's close to a transmission line. This means they make more money, at our expense. We think there's something seriously wrong with that formula.
We believe that responsible siting/placement must be a primary concern for all proposed industrial energy facilites, alternative or otherwise.
We speak only for ourselves here, but let's get one thing straight - don't call us NIMBYs - this is not our back yard we're trying to protect. This is our FRONT yard (ours, and a few thousand other good citizens'...) and, if you read the information available through this website, you might decide there's a better location for an industrial wind facility than right in your front yard, too.
JC/LG - Ribera, NM
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