UPDATE: SB4, the Clear Horizons & Greenhouse Gas Emissions Act, died in a Senate Finance Committee hearing a few hours after this story was posted.
In a statement following the vote, Lucas Herndon, energy policy director at ProgressNow New Mexico said, 鈥淲ith today鈥檚 vote it鈥檚 clear that no amount of community input can sway the legislature to take action on climate in any meaningful way.鈥�
Tick tock, tick tock鈥�
Feb. 20 was halftime in this year鈥檚 two-month edition of the New Mexico Legislature and the deadline for filing proposed legislation. Its 111 members have now filed 1,182 bills for debate; about 20 of those deal with regulating some aspect of the oil and gas industry. With roughly 230 hours (10 hours a day, six days a week) to hear, debate and vote before the session ends March 22, the remaining month will be a rush of late nights, weekend committee meetings, filibustering 鈥� and bills left to languish.
Meanwhile, the federal government is busy dismantling itself, leaving New Mexico without its biggest environmental partner. Last Wednesday, the Trump administration quashed most environmental oversight of projects on public lands, which means far less opportunity to contest or craft oil and gas developments in the state.
The hammer came down from the White House Council on Environmental Quality, which, the day before New Mexico鈥檚 legislative halftime, it would remove the existing regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act as part of President Donald Trump鈥檚 鈥淯nleashing American Energy鈥� executive order.
This is huge news for a state that is the second-largest oil producer in the country. And, in theory, several of the bills before the Legislature could address the impending fallout. But that clock is ticking, and time is running out.
鈥淲e鈥檙e at the point in the session where everything feels both possible and impossible,鈥� said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center.
He鈥檚 hoping for what鈥檚 possible because that while fighting climate change and environmental pollution is expensive, it鈥檚 cheaper than the long-term consequences of doing nothing. The New Mexico Legislature needs to act, 鈥渘ot just to ensure we make forward progress at the state level, but to fortify us against the Trump administration鈥檚 transgressions,鈥� Schlenker-Goodrich said. 鈥淲e are less safe because of their actions.鈥�
For roughly 50 years, the National Environmental Policy Act regulations were the primary means of assessing and disputing the environmental and social impacts of proposed development on federal lands 鈥� like fossil fuel leases. And in recent years the Biden administration clarified the regulations to include both the effects on local minority groups and the environmental cost of greenhouse gas emissions in federal projects. Now, all of those reviews are gone. At the same time, the Trump administration has laid off an unknown number of federal workers charged with carrying out federal rules across New Mexico.
That leaves New Mexico鈥檚 politicians an even bigger share of the responsibility for regulating the state鈥檚 most powerful, most lucrative and most industry.
The oil and gas industry is the state鈥檚 biggest greenhouse gas emitting sector, and state Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Bernalillo) has proposed , the Clear Horizons & Greenhouse Gas Emissions Act, which calls for reducing the state鈥檚 greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. This would codify one of Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham鈥檚 original , laid out six years ago in the inaugural days of her first term.
This year鈥檚 two-month legislative session may be the final chance to address that goal during Lujan Grisham鈥檚 term-limited time in office. Next year鈥檚 one-month session will be devoted to the state budget and very little other legislation, and the state will elect a new governor that November.
Right now, Democrats hold a nearly 2-1 majority in both houses, but so far, oil and gas-related legislation has had a from legislators on both sides of the aisle. Also this session, industry representatives have fought vigorously against all legislation that would impose either higher fees or more regulations. All of this lessens chances for new legislation as the clock continues to tick.
Sen. Stewart said she tried to bridge the gap before the session began. 鈥淲e reached out to NMOGA [the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association] to discuss SB4 and they responded that they did 鈥榥ot feel there is anything to negotiate.鈥欌��
Missi Currier, the president and CEO of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, paints the exchange differently. 鈥淣MOGA met with the senator and her staff at length and provided six pages of questions on the bill, none of which was taken into consideration,鈥� she said.
Debate has spread well beyond the Capitol building. During the legislative session, lobbyists are required to report all expenses greater than $500 to the Secretary of State鈥檚 office within 48 hours. On Feb. 11, three weeks into the session, Currier filed a for $126,000 spent on advertising against bills SB4, (which supports SB4), (which would exclude new oil and gas operations within one mile of schools) and other 鈥渁nti-industry bills.鈥�
Rep. Debra Sari帽ana (D-Bernalillo), who sponsored HB35, didn鈥檛 know about the ad campaign until informed by Capital & Main. 鈥淲ow,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see that.鈥�
Stewart said, 鈥淭he oil and gas lobby is resorting to fear tactics to protect its bottom line 鈥� even at the expense of our state鈥檚 long-term well-being.鈥�
It鈥檚 not the first time that the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association has bought ads during a legislative session. , it bought ads against the , another bill sponsored by Stewart that was an earlier version of the Clear Horizons & Greenhouse Gas Emissions Act. Rep. Nathan Small (D-Do帽a Ana), was a co-sponsor then, before he became head of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee last year and one of the biggest of oil and gas campaign funding. He was one of the Democrats who helped another Sari帽ana bill this session that would have added considerations for human health and the environment to the state Oil Conservation Division鈥檚 mission statement.
Sari帽ana is particularly upset that Democrats like Small are . Her bill HB35 is stuck awaiting a committee hearing that she thinks won鈥檛 happen. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 heard directly but a lot of the signs are there,鈥� she said. It鈥檚 probably 鈥渋mpossible鈥� for the bill to make it to law at this point, she said, without all of its House hearings completed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to see my side kill them,鈥� Sari帽ana said.
Meanwhile, when it crosses from the Senate to the House, Stewart鈥檚 Clear Horizons & Greenhouse Gas Emissions Act will likely go through Small鈥檚 Appropriations and Finance Committee as well as the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee, on which he also sits. Schlenker-Goodrich, of the Western Environmental Law Center, said, 鈥淚t sets up a choice for Rep. Small: Will he be a climate action hero or villain?鈥�
Small did not respond to questions from Capital & Main.
Currier, the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association president, sees the bill and other oil and gas regulations as an existential threat to the industry and the state. 鈥淭his bill will devastate New Mexico鈥檚 economy across the board,鈥� she said.
Stewart disagreed. 鈥淎fter methane regulations were adopted in 2020, state oil and gas revenues hit all-time highs,鈥� she said. 鈥淣o company has stated that it will shut down operations due to this legislation.鈥�
鈥淥il and gas folks keep claiming that New Mexico produces some of the cleanest oil and gas in the world. If that鈥檚 the case, then this is an opportunity for them to prove it,鈥� Schlenker-Goodrich said. 鈥淚 won鈥檛 hold my breath on that.鈥�
The Trump administration continues to rattle New Mexico in other ways, including through the ongoing federal layoff . When it comes to oil and gas, workers at the Bureau of Land Management oversee federal land leases and monitor for rules violations. The Environmental Protection Agency also monitors air quality across the state, and has found exceptionally high air pollution levels in the state鈥檚 portion of the Permian Basin (though it has about it). Both the EPA and the Justice Department worked with the New Mexico Environment Department to and prosecute oilfield violations. Last week, New Mexico鈥檚 U.S. attorney at Trump鈥檚 request.
All told, New Mexico had more than 29,000 federal workers before Trump took office, and no one in the state seems to know just how many have been laid off, much less from which agencies. Questions sent to the Bureau of Land Management鈥檚 New Mexico headquarters about statewide staffing cuts at both the bureau and at the wider U.S. Department of the Interior were forwarded to the Washington, D.C., headquarters and were not immediately answered.
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) has repeatedly asked the administration for the number of New Mexicans who have been fired, and from which agencies or departments. 鈥淭he administration is either refusing to be transparent or they simply don鈥檛 know,鈥� a spokesperson for the senator said. 鈥淓ither way, their actions are completely reckless.鈥�
Drew Goretzka, director of communications at the state鈥檚 Environment Department, which has relied on federal help on big cases in the past, said, 鈥淲e simply don鈥檛 know how all of these federal changes will impact us yet 鈥� whether it鈥檚 our funds, staffing or work.鈥�
Rose Rushing, an attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center, said the federal actions are 鈥渘ot even popular with voters in the , who value our public lands and by and large consider climate change to be a serious problem.鈥�
What has resulted instead, she said, is 鈥渃haos.鈥�
Tick tock, tick tock鈥�