OPINION: Project Jupiter is just the latest playbook

For decades, New Mexico has dressed up harmful policies as “progress.” It’s time to stop making the same mistakes.

Back in January, during the New Mexico Legislative Session, I was a “no” vote on a water bill that paved the way for what we now know as Project Jupiter, a large data center in Santa Teresa. I raised alarms in the Agriculture, Acequias and Water Resources Committee. I asked hard questions. And, as usual, I was dismissed as being unreasonable.

Today, my inbox and phone are full of messages from people concerned about Project Jupiter and asking what I plan to do to stop it. Here’s the truth: I tried, and I stood alone.

The state Legislature is a branch of government that many in our community know very little about, yet it has enormous power to shape daily life. What has struck me most is not just how bills move, but how they’re dressed up in language meant to disarm. Words like “conservation” and “innovation” become masks — selling deals as green or forward-looking while hiding their true costs to land, water and community.

We’ve seen this before. Private prisons sold as “jobs.” Extractive industries framed as “responsible growth.” Sprawl on the east side spun as “opportunity.” Each time, the story is the same: dress it up, rush it through, then act surprised when communities bear the harm.

And let’s be real: It wasn’t just one party or one bill. Even within our own ranks, power protects itself. Certain leaders get called conservation champions, not because of their record, but because politics demands it. Meanwhile, those who raise the alarms are cast as unreasonable. That’s not conservation — that’s politics as usual.

Project Jupiter is just the latest example of how power works in New Mexico. When something is packaged as “economic development,” the same old players line up in support. But when the harm surfaces — when communities see what’s really at stake — suddenly there are calls for accountability. The problem is, accountability requires courage in the moment, not after the damage is done.

For decades, traditional neighborhoods, working families and Indigenous communities have been told to sacrifice in the name of “progress.” Investment flows elsewhere, while the costs land here. Project Jupiter is no different — it is about water, power and who gets to decide the future of New Mexico. I voted no because I refuse to rubber-stamp the same tired playbook.

What gives me hope is this: Communities have always built care and safety outside the statehouse. We’ve resisted detention, organized against extraction and created joy where the system offered nothing. The path forward is already in motion. The question is whether our leaders will choose to follow it.