The road to New Mexico: I posted this story earlier this morning -- almost the first story I posted today. It has legs. Now two more articles, all inter-connected.
- first, over at Bloomberg, which might have a paywall; if so, then,
- second, over at oilprice
New Mexico’s Lujan Grisham pushes an ambitious pro-environment agenda for an industry whose receipts dominate the state budgetFrom the second link:
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham took office with two climate-friendly pledges: to make New Mexico’s electricity emission-free by 2045, and to curb methane emissions from the oil and gas industry more substantially than they are being limited now.What the governor fails to realize that once a state pledges to be emission-free by 2045, that sets in motion all kinds of new bills, regulations, laws, attitudes, etc.
However, the oil industry is one of the biggest revenue contributors to the state, and it’s a major job creator. Bloomberg’s Rachel Adams-Heard reports that people whose businesses depend on customers from the Permian are strongly opposed to any tighter methane regulations for fear their customers would go across the state border to Texas, where regulations are laxer.
The Governor is aware of the challenges, according to Adams-Heard: “It’s a juxtaposition for sure,” Lujan Grisham told her. “I think the trap for too many elected individuals around the country is that they’re asked by some constituent group to pick one, and I’ve said New Mexico is going to pick every single opportunity and then be responsible at the same time.”
This sounds like the attitude demonstrated by Alberta’s former Premier Rachel Notley, whose government tried to juggle emissions-cutting measures and support for the oil industry, which is vital for the province. The results of the latest vote suggested the NDP government had failed at the latter.
Good luck.
Happy feet:
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