On Friday, August 26, 2022 the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (ENMRD) announced it was the recipient of a Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant to fund the Development of a State Climate Action and Resilience Plan.
“In New Mexico, and across the greater southwest, climate change will have a greater impact on rural and minority communities,” said Louise Martinez, Energy Conservation and Management Division (State Energy Office) Director. “This grant presents a unique opportunity to collaborate and address long-standing inequities in environmental, public health, and economic burdens placed on the state’s population.”
The state Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience plan will further implement Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham’s Executive Order 2019-003 on Climate Change and Energy Waste Prevention. All state agencies are to evaluate the impacts of climate change on their programs and operations and integrate climate change mitigation and adaptation practices into their programs and operations.
FEMA BRIC was created as a result of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA) of 2018 to provide pre-disaster funding to states for innovative hazard mitigation projects, as well as to support capability and capacity-building activities, including the development of feasability, scoping, and planning resources. To date, at least five BRIC projects developed or directly supported by State Energy Offices have been selected by FEMA for funding.
The critical role that energy plays in interdependent critical infrastucutre and system-based hazard mitigation cannot be overstated. As the lead for State Energy Security Planning, the New Mexico State Energy Office will be able to incorporate new data from the State Climate Action and Resilience Plan, and provide unique perspectives on energy resilience for the comprehensive state plan moving forward.
To read the press release, click here.