An ambitious proposal to battle climate change received some strong pushback yesterday during a committee-level debate.
Crafted by State Senate Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, Senate Bill 4, titled Clear Horizons and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, would require statewide emissions to be reduced by 45% by the year 2030, in comparison to 2005 levels.
By 2040, the state would need to be at 75% less than 2005 levels and, by 2050, 100% less.
In a presentation to the Senate Conservation committee, Stewart characterized the measure as a culminating piece of legislation that follows six years of working in alignment with Michelle Lujan Grisham’s agenda.
UNM Climate Law expert Gabe Pacyniak spoke on behalf of the bill sponsors.
He said that the New Mexico legislation is similar in structure to several already adopted laws in such states as Colorado, Maryland, and Washington.
He also applauded the work that industry and government in New Mexico has already taken to meet climate goals.
“Recent reporting projects that New Mexico will actually exceed the governor's goals for 2025, which is thanks to the hard work of NMED (New Mexico Environment Department), but also the regulated industries have complied with regulations including oil and gas regulations," said Pacyniak.
"However, the same reporting has shown that while New Mexico's on track to meet its 2025 goal, it's not yet on track to meet its 2030 goal."
Several commenters from the community representing oil and gas, agriculture, and other industries said they anticipated economic hardship in accelerating emission reductions, as prescribed by the bill.
Senator Larry Scott concluded his statement of opposition to the measure by citing figures that had the U.S. as one of the world’s highest emitters of CO2 at 16 metric tons per year per person.
Senator Scott then directly connected that fact to the nation’s reputation as one of the world’s strongest economies as well, and said it made other countries envious of the U.S.
“At the other end of the spectrum, we have African nations that emit on the order of less than one metric ton of CO2 per person," said Scott.
"These countries are incredibly poor. They're wanting to be us. This policy is misguided. It will make us third world.”
Democratic senator Joe Cervantes also opposed the bill, saying it doesn’t contain specific guidance on how to reduce emissions. In the end, the committee approved it 5-4.
