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Proposed legislation would dramatically alter New Mexico’s principal oil and gas law
Three bills proposed for the New Mexico legislative session would shift the state’s focus on the oil and gas industry by emphasizing public safety and environmental protections, denying permits and increasing penalties for companies in violation of the law, and making it easier for citizen groups to sue scofflaw operators. The measures would dramatically redirect the […]
Oil and gas operator pays millions for Clean Air Act violations
A recent agreement between an environmental group and an oil and gas company that dramatically cuts excess oilfield pollution at a facility in southern New Mexico could be a model both for quicker resolutions to pollution violations and a legal roadmap for private groups looking to hold fossil fuel companies to account under the Clean […]
New NASA camera spots methane ‘super emitter’ in New Mexico
A news release from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory about its new mineral mapping instrument on the International Space Station sent Oil Conservation Division (OCD) employees scrambling the last week in October. The notification, posted to science aficionados around the world, featured the agency’s new ground-scanning camera and led with an image of a massive methane […]
New Mexico oil and gas rules await cash after Democratic sweep
Despite a Democratic sweep of New Mexico state offices and continuing blue majority in the upcoming Legislature, the future of oil and gas regulation remains hazy. Michelle Lujan Grisham returns to the Governor’s Mansion for another four years, after a first term spent initiating some of the nation’s most progressive clean energy incentives and most stringent […]
Fossil fuel money flows to New Mexico Democrats
New Mexico’s Republicans and advocates for oil and gas producers often accuse the state’s ruling Democrats of trying to kill the local fossil fuel industry, but industry donations and agency funding outcomes tell a different story. Democrats hold a lock on all statewide offices and both chambers of the Legislature heading into the midterm elections, […]
A Republican attack ad gets its facts all wrong
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) released a dozen negative ads on Oct. 11, none of which say anything about Republican members of Congress or their platforms. Instead, this 11th-hour mudslinging focuses on attacking Democrats — often without basis. And in the case of its smear of Gabe Vasquez, the Democratic challenger in New Mexico’s District 2, the NRCC […]
‘Strongest climate bill ever’ may increase oil and gas production in New Mexico
While President Joe Biden’s $737 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) aims to address a cornucopia of American ills, arguably its most important aspect is how it jump-starts the country’s fight against climate change. It attacks the country’s carbon emissions from both ends — consumption and production — with one primary tool: money. A lot of money: […]
A petroleum PR blitz in New Mexico
In the past seven months, oil and gas companies have dramatically stepped up their outreach and public relations spending at some of New Mexico’s best-known, best-loved events. The industry also picked up an additional public relations bump from the not unexpected news that oil and gas revenues will add an additional $2.5 billion to next year’s state […]
As EPA fails to fine oil and gas polluters, New Mexico officials demand answers
New Mexico officials are asking the federal government to explain why it decided not to impose fines on oil and gas producers it caught violating the Clean Air Act in the state. In May, Capital & Main reported that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that 24 companies had 111 leaks from wells and other equipment, following an […]
New Mexico’s pandemic oil and gas plan aided a Putin pal and Trump donor
Back in 2020, as oil and gas prices tanked because of the COVID crisis, New Mexico implemented an emergency program that would allow oil and gas producers to temporarily stop production and shut down wells for up to three years without penalty. The state’s Oil Conservation Division created the program so that companies could bank […]
New Mexico’s oil and gas revenues are breaking records and complicating budgets
Oil and gas revenues added more than $1.7 billion to New Mexico coffers in the first four months of the year — more than in any other four-month period in state history. A lot more. Records compiled by the New Mexico Tax and Revenue Department show that year-on-year, revenues from January through April more than doubled […]
Uncontrolled Burning: The role of oil and gas in New Mexico’s historic wildfires
On June 21, U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore somewhat surprisingly laid the blame for the largest wildfire in New Mexico history squarely at the feet of his own agency: Using outdated information and practices, his employees started a prescribed burn that raced out of control. His admission came in the introduction to an 85-page Forest Service […]