New Mexico knows the promises and the consequences of extractive industries. Across the state, communities are still living with the legacy of past mining — from contaminated water to lasting health impacts that have stretched across generations.

As new mining proposals emerge across New Mexico’s rural and Tribal communities, and national debates intensify around minerals used in energy technologies, the question facing our state is not simply whether mining will happen, but how decisions will be made and whose voices matter.

That question became more urgent earlier this year when federal actions attempted to roll back environmental justice initiatives that aim to address disproportionate environmental harms faced by communities of color, Tribal nations and rural communities.

In response, attorneys general from multiple states, including New Mexico, issued guidance affirming that environmental justice efforts remain lawful and essential to protecting communities.

Community organizations across New Mexico — including the NM Mining Watch coalition — called on Attorney General Raúl Torrez to join the multi-state guidance.

For communities across New Mexico — particularly those that have experienced the impacts of mining firsthand — this clarification matters.

Environmental justice is not a new concept here. Communities in uranium mining regions have spent decades confronting contamination, health impacts and the legacy of abandoned mines. Many rural and Indigenous communities continue to live with the consequences of decisions made without their full participation. As the guidance notes, environmental justice has roots in broader civil rights movements, and federal law continues to protect against environmental discrimination.

Environmental justice initiatives help ensure these experiences are considered when new projects are proposed, including how pollution, water use and health risks affect impacted communities.

In practice, environmental justice means ensuring decisions about pollution, water use and development account for the people and communities closest to those impacts.

As interest in mining increases across the West — from uranium to copper — these protections are especially important for New Mexicans. Pressure to expand mining should not come at the cost of weakening safeguards that protect communities and our air, land, and water.

The multi-state guidance reaffirms that states retain authority to protect public health, consider cumulative environmental impacts that disproportionally affect New Mexicans, and ensure communities have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect them.

That principle is especially relevant in New Mexico, where water is scarce and many communities already face environmental challenges linked to historic mining.

Protecting water, community health and access to decision-making are essential components of responsible governance.

The recent action by the New Mexico attorney general demonstrates that states play an important role in upholding environmental justice even when federal policies shift.

As pressure to expand mining grows, people across New Mexico deserve choices grounded in the realities people experience every day from extractive industries.

Environmental justice helps ensure those realities are part of the conversation.

New Mexico Mining Watch is a coalition of organizations working to ensure that mining decisions protect water, community health and the rights of communities most affected by extraction by bringing together community voices, technical expertise and policy engagement opportunities. Members work with communities across New Mexico, from uranium mining regions in the northwest to copper mining communities in the west, bringing together community voices, technical expertise, and policy engagement opportunities.

New Mexico’s path forward must be guided by more than economics. An environmental justice focus will help us to chart that path.