Santa Fe New Mexican (March 26, 2023) – Clips from the attached article.  Click below to read full story.

• This year’s legislative session showed that a blue majority isn’t always green.
• The oil and gas bills that fell through underscore how the strong Democratic majority in the Legislature is not monolithic but has a fairly wide and diverse spectrum — from green-minded progressives to more conservative leaders who are wary of imposing too much regulation on an economic mainstay, Long said.

  “New Mexico has always had … a pretty big tent in that majority party,” he said. “There’s a variety of views. And we definitely saw that in play this session.”

  Jim Winchester, executive director of Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico, applauded the failure of what he called legislation that disproportionately targets smaller oil producers in the state.

  “We are grateful to the legislators who rejected these radical bill proposals and understand the benefits of our industry to education, public safety, and the human condition in New Mexico,” Winchester wrote in an email.

• Winchester, the industry advocate, rejected the characterization of oil operators being anti-environment.

  “IPANM supports environmental stewardship from our industry when proposed in balanced, reasonable, and practical legislation,” Winchester wrote. “However, there are groups who continue to push anti-oil-and-gas legislation without any thought to the consequences on everyday, hardworking people in our state.”

• In an email, a political analyst wrote some Democratic lawmakers’ reluctance to push through climate bills this session is in line with what can be seen at the federal level: President Joe Biden drawing fire from progressive Democrats for not moving more aggressively toward the clean-energy transition.

  “This to me is reflective of the political challenges in energy production policy,” wrote Gabriel Sanchez, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico. “The oil and gas industry is a very powerful industry, especially in New Mexico. And given how important oil and gas revenue has remained to our state’s economy, this makes more aggressive climate change policy a challenge for progressive Democrats.”

State Legislators Push Back on Radical Green Agenda