By Kevin Hendricks, New Mexico Political Report — Students across New Mexico traded lecture halls for picket signs Tuesday. They walked out of class to demand that lawmakers stop fast-tracking AI data centers, which they say will drain the state’s water, power and land.
In Albuquerque, UNM students rallied outside Scholes Hall then joined over 100 marchers at the UNM Bookstore and marched down Central Avenue to U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich’s downtown office for a rally. Marchers held signs and yelled anti-Heinrich and Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham chants as they headed down Central.
The same day, New Mexico School for the Arts students marched to the Roundhouse in Santa Fe, and youth rallied at the Las Cruces Civic Plaza.
Youth United for Climate Crisis Action (YUCCA) led the “Pull the Plug on AI” walkouts. The group took aim at Project Jupiter, the hyperscale campus going up in Santa Teresa, and at the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act. Organizers say the bill would gut environmental protections and tribal consultation and would let corporations sue when their projects get denied…