VOICES OF LOS ALAMOS NEWS
Please join us from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 26 for a virtual evening conversation with Gabe Pacyniak, from the UNM Law School and the Environmental Law Clinic, and Beth Beloff and Ken Hughes from the Coalition for Sustainable Communities New Mexico (https://www.coalitionscnm.org/).
They will be sharing their experience and insights into how innovative regional energy policies and community sustainability and resilience practices can help Los Alamos be a leader in the New M plan to achieve a significant (>45% over 2005 levels) reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Their work in other New Mexico communities and current and upcoming New Mexico energy policy initiatives will be shared with time for Q&A.
Zoom link will be shared with our Facebook group and mailing list prior to the meeting. BIOs
Gabe Pacyniak is Associate Professor of Law at UNM School of Law. He teaches primarily in the natural resources and environmental law clinic. The clinic provides law and policy representation to low-income and underserved communities on a broad range of issues. Gabe is a graduate of Georgetown Law and the New College of Florida. While in law school, he interned at the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change and on the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee while the committee was drafting comprehensive climate change litigation. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Gabe worked as a community journalist in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the UNM faculty in August 2017, Gabe managed the climate change mitigation program at the Georgetown Climate Center and co-taught a climate change law and policy practicum course as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law.
Beth Beloff is founder and Executive Director of the Coalition for Sustainable Communities New Mexico. From 2015 through 2018 she served as Chair of the Santa Fe Sustainability Commission (SSFC), and was tasked with development of a 25-year sustainability and carbon neutral plan for Santa Fe, which was adopted in 2018.
She was founder and President of the non-profit think tank, BRIDGES to Sustainability, one of the early organizations focused on moving from sustainability strategy to practice. Prior to BRIDGES, she founded and directed the Institute for Corporate Environmental Management (ICEM) in the business school at the University of Houston. She is on the boards of the Santa Fe Community Foundation, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Performance Santa Fe Foundation, and she serves on the Advisory Council of New Energy Economy. Beth has a BA from University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Architecture degree from UCLA, and an MBA from the University of Houston.
Ken Hughes is Director of Operations and Development for the Coalition for Sustainable Communities New Mexico. For the past twelve years Ken served as a Clean Energy Specialist at New Mexico’s Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department to promote the application of solar energy and energy efficiency practices by schools, local and state governments, tribes, home owners, builders, and commercial building owners. Ken oversaw the Sustainable Building Tax Credit Program, which has transformed the building industry toward energy efficiency as an adopted best practice. Ken was a 2001 Fellow in University of Miami’s Knight Program in Community Building, and a 2009 Sierra Club Delegate to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. He served on the adult board of the Global Warming Express and mentors its kids at Nino Otero School. At the end of his state government career Ken received the Joe Guillen Award “for outstanding leadership, service and dedication to New Mexico communities.” Ken has a BA from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in Public Policy from Virginia Tech.
Other announcements
● North Mesa Housing Study meeting is Oct 29. County Councilors meet the Los Alamos Public School Board in a joint session at 6:00 p.m. on Zoom. Follow the links in the report. There are currently 1000 houses on North Mesa, as many 300 new homes may be built.
Voices of Los Alamos is a non-partisan, progressive advocacy group created as a way for Los Alamos residents to voice their concerns over current political events, both at the state and federal levels. VOLA strives to build community, educate, discuss, and enact action plans, with a focus on the following issues: social justice, women’s rights, human rights, education, environment, health care, gun safety and election reform.