Greenhouse gas reductions blocked in New Mexico Senate after deadlocked vote

A bill that would have set statewide targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was blocked by a tie vote in its first New Mexico Senate Committee, after facing opposition from oil and gas and other industry leaders.

Senate Bill 520, the Clean Future Act, was sponsored by Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-17) and would have codified into law benchmarks for reducing air pollution already in place via an executive order issued in 2019 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The bill would put the requirements into law, meaning they would stay in place regardless of changing administrations.

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If it passed, SB 520 would require greenhouse gas emissions in the state be reduced by 50 percent, compared with 2005 levels, by 2030, then 75 percent by 2040 and 90 percent by 2050.

After 2050, the bill New Mexico would also achieve “net-zero” carbon emissions, meaning there would be more, or equal amounts of greenhouse gases removed from the air than was released via direct emissions.

The Oil Conservation Division’s (OCD) authority would also be expanded if SB 520 had passed, requiring the division – New Mexico’s chief compliance agency overseeing oil and gas operations – to respond to environmental and climate change concerns.

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Present state statute defines the OCD’s authority regarding emissions as only reducing waste of natural resources.

The Senate Conservation Committee Tuesday voted 4-4 on a “do pass” motion, preventing it from advancing further.

The Committee also deadlocked earlier in the meeting on a 4-4 vote to table the bill, with Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-31) the lone Democrat siding with Republicans on both votes.

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He expressed reservations for the language of the bill, arguing certain clauses like a requirement the bill be enacted using “traditional knowledge” lacked clear definitions and that the bill contained no way of enforcing its requirements.

He said the bill as written read more like a memorial than an actual policy-creating bill.

“There’s no accountability in here at all,” Cervantes said. “What happens if we don’t do this? There’s a bunch of standards in here and if you don’t meet them, there’s no consequences. We’re giving you our hope and our dream, and our T-shirt slogan and bumper sticker, but we’re not really telling you that if you don’t do this anything is going to happen to you.”

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Stewart said the bill was meant to establish standards that could later inform accountability regulations tied to reducing pollution.

She said SB 520 was a needed “first step” in taking on the environmental impacts of New Mexico’s industries, and their contributions to climate change.

“I don’t believe you can even talk about accountability unless you have standards,” she said. “That’s what this is about. Until we can agree on the standards that we’re trying to reach, why even bother talking about accountability?”

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Environmental groups voiced support at the meeting for the bill, albeit arguing it would necessitate more funding for environmental agencies, while representatives from oil and gas and other industries were opposed.

Sen. David Gallegos (R-41) of Eunice said SB 520’s requirements would hurt businesses like the fossil fuel companies that largely define the economy of the region of New Mexico he represents.

This could push businesses in many sectors out of New Mexico, Gallegos said, and into neighboring states like Texas which he said were “easier to work with.”

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“If we continue to hurt our state and people move outside of the state and region, do we believe we will still be able to reduce their emissions?” Gallegos said. “To me, it looks like we’re trying to harm their business by putting so much on their back. And if they move to Texas, I don’t think we resolve the emissions issue.”

Regardless of other states, Stewart said the State should focus on what it can do within its policy reach within New Mexico to address growing pollution.

“I believe that it’s important that we take care of business in New Mexico,” she said. “We have more emissions than almost any other state. I think it’s important that we all try to work on cleaning up our air and cleaning up these emissions that we have.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Greenhouse gas reductions blocked in New Mexico Senate