近距离内射合集

LAS CRUCES 鈥� As the window for public comments on a microgrid air quality permit application related to Project Jupiter came to a close Monday night, several local elected officials weighed in for or against it while political figures in Albuquerque and Taos complained that comments supporting the permit were falsely attributed to them.

The permit, submitted under the corporate entity named Yucca Growth Infrastructure, pertains to a planned microgrid power generation facility for the massive data center under construction in Santa Teresa.

Yucca had previously submitted an application to the New Mexico Environment Department for emissions permits for natural gas turbines, but later withdrew that and submitted a new proposal using fuel cell technology by Bloom Energy. Public comments on the , addressed to NMED鈥檚 Environmental Improvement Board, opened May 31 and closed Monday.

Among the multitudes of commenters were some local elected officials who weighed in for and against the permit.

Do帽a Ana County Chairman Manny Sanchez, a Democrat and historically a supporter of the project, wrote that he was 鈥渆ncouraged by the project鈥檚 evolution and the environmental improvements incorporated into the current plan.鈥�

鈥淥ur region has experienced challenges related to ozone and particulate matter,鈥� Sanchez continued, 鈥渁nd the transition from gas turbines to fuel cells substantially reduces nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions compared to the original proposal.鈥�

Although developers moved to a lower-polluting fuel cell technology by Bloom Energy, public notices still estimated the facility鈥檚 air pollution at 10.1 million tons of greenhouse gases annually.

Construction has been underway since September, and structures are already taking shape at the site, yet many comments expanded beyond the question of an air quality permit for Project Jupiter鈥檚 autonomous power generation to addressing the project鈥檚 very existence. Some referred to criticisms of the project鈥檚 rollout to the public, including a fast-paced set of votes last September on tax incentives and other assistance that critics said obscured details of the project and commitments to the county with respect to jobs, water demands and pollution.

鈥淪witching from natural gas turbines to Bloom Energy fuel cells does not solve the problem, and their own documents show emissions still exceeding the combined output of Albuquerque and Las Cruces,鈥� state Rep. Angelica Rubio, D-Las Cruces, wrote in her comment. 鈥淭his technology has never been deployed at this scale anywhere in the world, and once again 鈥� New Mexicans, and their water, land and air, are left to be sacrificial lambs.鈥�

Two members of the Las Cruces City Council, Michael Harris and Becky Corran, opposed the permit due to the environmental harms to residents. Mayor Eric Enriquez, on the other hand, submitted a comment strongly supporting the project, citing its promises to establish thousands of jobs, provide opportunities for young graduates and boost the region鈥檚 economy.

Four Democratic state senators from Las Cruces 鈥� Joseph Cervantes, Carrie Hamblen, Bill Soules and Jeff Steinborn 鈥� recently announced they were organizing an Aug. 11 community listening session on New Mexico State University鈥檚 Las Cruces campus and inviting state agencies to attend and gather feedback from questions and comments. None submitted written comments individually on the permit application, but the senators criticized the project鈥檚 transparency in a joint appearance last week, with Steinborn and Soules calling for tighter regulations on microgrids and more deployment of renewably sourced energy for the data center.

Following publication of this story, Steinborn and Hamblen noted they had co-signed a public comment submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club.

State Rep. Sarah Silva, a Las Cruces Democrat representing Do帽a Ana and Otero counties, also called for renewable deployment, writing, 鈥淲hile they are legally bound by their agreements with Do帽a Ana County to make Project Jupiter net-zero carbon by 2045, we need the path to net-zero carbon to begin the moment Project Jupiter goes online 鈥� which could be months away, if they meet their goals.鈥�

Rubio and Hamblen have joined with fellow Democrats and state Reps. Micaela Lara Cadena of Mesilla and Eleanor Ch谩vez of Albuquerque to propose a statewide moratorium on large-scale data center development in New Mexico.

Lara Cadena wrote in her own comment on the air quality permit, 鈥淭he people of New Mexico deserve better, much better than the dishonesty and deception of Project Jupiter.鈥�

Republicans who wrote in tended to support the permit and praise the project, as did some Democrats.

鈥淭his project will create jobs, generate tax revenues, and strengthen the infrastructure our communities depend on,鈥� wrote state Sen. Crystal Brantley, a Republican from Elephant Butte whose district includes part of Do帽a Ana County.

Brantley also joined 10 of her Republican Senate colleagues from around the state in supporting the permit, calling Project Jupiter 鈥渙ne of the most significant private-sector investment opportunities currently before the State of New Mexico.鈥�

Complaints of impersonation

A great many comments supporting the project appeared to be a form letter using identical language.

While it is not unusual to make a form message available for supporters, reports that residents in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Rio Rancho were discovering the template messages of support had been submitted under their names without their knowledge or permission.

Residents who spoke with Source New Mexico said they received notifications about comment submissions after they provided contact information with canvassers in Project Jupiter-branded apparel who spoke with them in public places.

Oracle, which is developing the data center to build computing capacity for training AI models with OpenAI, denied the project鈥檚 canvassers were involved with falsely attributed endorsements and said it would not condone any effort to use the comment portal on its ProjectJupiterTogether.com website to abuse the public comment process. 

鈥溾��The submissions we have completed our review of are legitimate comments from residents who happen to share the same name as someone else,鈥� Oracle Vice President Michael Egbert said in a statement for the Journal. 鈥淭here are other submissions within this small number that require further investigation. We review every question about authenticity and will continue to actively investigate each instance that is raised. Any isolated instances of improper conduct should be addressed, but they should not overshadow or undermine the thousands of residents who have participated honestly and in accordance with the process.鈥�

Complaints of impersonation also came from some elected officials.

State Rep. Cristina Paraj贸n, D-Albuquerque, issued a statement Tuesday saying a supportive message had been submitted using her name and the email address of her legislative aide, followed by another comment under the legislative aide鈥檚 name 鈥� but misspelled.

鈥淚 did not submit these comments in support of Project Jupiter, I did not consent to the comments, and I did not authorize anyone to use my name in support of the project,鈥� Paraj贸n stated.

Albuquerque City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn also discovered her name attached to a supportive comment and issued a statement saying, 鈥淚 do not support Project Jupiter. In my view the company has not been truthful with the community about its plans and has attempted to manufacture public support through misleading and deceptive advertising campaigns.鈥�

Darien Fernandez, a Taos town council member and executive director of the Taos Land Trust, submitted a public comment complaining that a cut-and-paste support letter had been submitted in his name, as well.

The Journal found identical comments submitted under names similar to more elected officials.

State Sen. Michael Padilla, an Albuquerque Democrat, said a message of support matching his name did not come from him, while acknowledging the possibility that someone with a similar name had authorized it.

State Rep. Martin Zamora, a Republican from Clovis who is running for Congress, said a supportive form letter matching his name was not authorized by him.

Because contact information associated with the forms was not published online, it was difficult to rule out individuals simply having similar names. A supportive comment came from another Angelica Rubio, for instance, as well as one Jennifer Jones, which is a near match for state Rep. Jenifer Jones鈥� name 鈥� but the Deming Republican spells her first name with one N.

On the other hand, Shannon Reynolds, a former Do帽a Ana County commissioner and prominent supporter of Project Jupiter, said he had consented to the message being submitted with his name.

鈥淚t was a form letter that I agreed with online,鈥� Reynolds told the Journal.

While the public comments are now closed, state Environment Secretary James Kenney has ordered that a public hearing be held regarding the permit, at a date and location that had not been determined as of Wednesday.

Algernon 顿鈥橝尘尘补蝉蝉补 is the Journal鈥檚 southern New Mexico correspondent and the true author of this story. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.