Jan. 20—A bill that aims to reduce vehicle pollution in New Mexico is already working its way through the state Legislature.
After more than four hours of discussion, the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee voted 7-4 along party lines Saturday afternoon to advance House Bill 41.
The bill seeks to establish clean transportation fuel standards and reduce “carbon intensity” levels of transportation fuels to 20% below 2018 levels by 2030 and 30% below them by 2040.
To do this, producers of high-carbon transportation fuels like oil would be forced to either reduce how much they pollute or buy clean-fuel credits from low-polluting utilities. Similar legislation has been proposed in other recent sessions but has yet to pass.
Rep. Kristina Ortez, D-Taos, one of the bill’s sponsors, said it “ensures our state won’t be left out” of the growing clean-energy sector and would create an estimated 1,600 good-paying jobs with an accompanying $47 million in wages.
“Without this … the new energy boom that we’re experiencing all around the country will leave New Mexico behind,” Ortez said.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has made encouraging electric vehicle use one of her priorities, and much of the debate Saturday focused on the desirability of encouraging electric vehicles or driving up gas prices in a state where, as Rep. Rod Montoya observed, 38% of the population lives below the poverty level and drives older gasoline-powered vehicles out of necessity.
“Things that we do that we think might help will hurt, and we have to know who we’re hurting,” said Montoya, R-Farmington.
However, Ortez stressed, HB 41 is “not an electric vehicle bill.”
“We want to incentivize producers of cleaner fuels that emit less greenhouse gases,” she said.
The committee also voted 7-4 along party lines to advance House Bill 48, which would increase the top royalty rate charged for oil and gas development on state lands from 20% to 25%.
The panel was originally scheduled to hear House Bill 133, an overhaul of the state Oil and Gas Act that on Friday raised the ire of some Republicans, who worry its setback requirements for new wells would harm the oil and gas industry. However, the bill was pulled from the agenda and will likely be heard next week instead, said committee Chairman Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo.
The bill’s opponents pointed to high gas prices in states like California, that have similar laws, as evidence of what it would do in New Mexico. Supporters argued there is no evidence connecting high gas prices to measures like as HB 41.
Much of the opposition came from advocates for the oil, gas and agriculture industries, who said it would drive up gas prices and thereby hurt those who can least afford it, including farmers and the rural poor.
“It’s passed on to those and hits those and hits those hardest who are in poverty,” said Jim Winchester, executive director of the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico. “It’s passed on to those, and hits those hardest, who are in rural areas.”
A few industry lobbyists, including for ExxonMobil and Public Service Company of New Mexico, testified in favor of the bill, while some of the opposition came from climate change activists. Groups such as Youth United for Climate Crisis Action argued provisions letting fuel producers and sellers obtain, trade and sell credits would just let them continue polluting.
“Carbon credits do not reduce emissions,” said Anni Hanna of Albuquerque. “In fact, they do not even compensate for emissions as they are advertised to do.”
A proposed amendment to the bill would require participating utilities to invest revenue from credits into grid modernization, infrastructure and other projects that support decarbonization, with at least half directed to initiatives that benefit underserved communities. While the committee didn’t vote on the amendment Saturday because it was presented too late, McQueen said it can be added later in the legislative process.
In the end, every Democrat on the committee voted for the bill, although Rep. Angelica Rubio, D-Las Cruces, said she sympathized with the mostly younger activists’ arguments and did so reluctantly.
“To be frank, serving in this institution and alongside this administration can be truly deflating in my spirit, especially to those of us who think we’re not moving fast enough to address climate,” Rubio said.
She praised the climate activists who testified against the bill.
“Organizing is slow and governing is that much slower,” Rubio said.
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