If you are interested in keeping our home, Socorro County in good shape, not ripped off by mega-extractors, please join Protect SSocorro County- contact Val Thomas (Val.Thomas@nmt.edu) or Heather Kovach (heather.kovach@gmail.com). They are presently in need of a Treasurer, which I’ll (allan.sauter@gmail.com) be willing to train regarding reporting requirements. The following is a document that Val shared at the past Socorro County Democrat meeting:
Socorro County is at a crossroads. Large scale AI data center proposals are moving quickly here in New Mexico, and their impacts will not be theoretical or temporary. Those impacts will shape our water security, land use, emergency services capacity, and long term infrastructure planning for decades. Our state’s land and resources are not owned by any single institution or political group. They belong to the people of Socorro County, the people of New Mexico, and every stakeholder group has a responsibility to ensure they are protected.
Protect Socorro County was formed on the need for representation and activism. Critical decisions were being initiated without full public procedure, without transparent disclosure, and without the participation of the communities who would bear the consequences. We have already seen how rushed proposals create confusion, mistrust, and unnecessary conflict. When development of this scale bypasses local voices, it undermines the very systems meant to safeguard our county.
This is why we need support from all local parties. This is not a partisan issue, but a shared duty to uphold the basic principles of good governance. When Democrats, Republicans, Independents, tribal representatives, municipal leaders, and county residents stand together, we send a clear message: that no project should move forward without full environmental review, water impact analysis, and emergency services planning. Even with those safeguards in place there must also be genuine community consent. Broad support also strengthens our ability to insist on accountability. Developers listen when they see unified local leadership. Agencies respond when they see coordinated civic engagement. Our county is safest when every group, regardless of ideology, insists on transparency, due diligence, and respect for public process.
Recently, our community achieved a significant victory when the NMT Green Data proposal was withdrawn. That outcome was not accidental, it was the result of informed residents, coordinated advocacy, and a unified insistence on proper procedure. It demonstrated what is possible when local stakeholders stand together and refuse to be sidelined.
But this win also revealed something larger: Socorro County is not alone. Across New Mexico, rural counties are facing similar pressures from high impact, resource intensive projects, like Project Jupiter, that often arrive with incomplete information and accelerated timelines. Many communities are now reaching out to us, asking how we organized, how we mobilized, and how we held developers and institutions accountable. We believe it is our responsibility to share what we’ve learned.
Protect Socorro County is committed to supporting other counties by providing guidance, sharing documentation, and helping them build the same kind of broad, non-partisan action that made our success possible. Responsible development should be the standard across New Mexico, not the exception.
Protect Socorro County is not asking anyone to oppose technology or economic opportunity. We are asking for responsible development that honors our shared resources, our acequia traditions, our rural infrastructure limits, and the right of our community to make informed decisions about its future. After all, we cannot drink data, store food in the cloud, or raise our families in a digital landscape.
We invite all local parties to join us in this effort because it is the duty of anyone who cares about Socorro County’s long term wellbeing. Together, we can ensure that any development here is done with integrity, with full stakeholder participation, and with respect for the people who call Socorro County home.
-Val Thomas
Vice-President of Protect Socorro County