President Joe Biden’s attempts to mitigate climate change continued to see mixed reviews from New Mexico leaders as the President sought to reduce pollution by slowing fossil fuel production – a major driver of the state’s economy.
Four months into his presidency, Biden unveiled a $2 trillion infrastructure package known as the American Jobs Plan which prioritized the U.S.’ transition to “clean” or renewable energy sources like wind and solar while also seeking to invest in rural communities such as those in southeast New Mexico which could be hit hardest by a shift away from oil and gas.
More than half of New Mexico’s oil and gas production occurs on federal lands subject to Biden’s regulations, while about a third of the state’s budget is funded by revenue from that industry.
Throughout the plan, it repeatedly mentioned the need for “clean” electricity in most industries as the administration sought to modernize the nation’s infrastructure and power grids and create jobs while reducing carbon emissions and America’s impact on pollution and climate change.
The plan also included $16 billion to plug abandoned oil and gas wells and mines, a problem facing New Mexico regulators following a downturn in oil and gas production caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently slumping fuel demands.
The State’s main oil and gas regulatory agency the Oil Conservation Division reported in March that it plugged 42 orphaned wells at a cost of about $1.6 million in the last fiscal year and aims to plug about 50 each year.
OCD records show the State is aware of 121 orphaned wells on State land, 298 on private land and 293 on federal land in New Mexico.
Operators take out bonds when wells are drilled to pay for such remediation, but the funding is often inadequate, said OCD Director Adrienne Sandoval and the state must step in at taxpayer expense.
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) said plugging the wells was essential to his state’s public health and environment, and that the federal government should support the work using the federal funds in Biden’s plan.
He said nationwide, there are more than 60,000 abandoned oil and gas wells and more than 700 in New Mexico alone and plugging the wells could create jobs lost during the recent oil and gas bust.
“They pose serious environmental risks and threaten communities across the country,” Heinrich said. “This is a problem we must solve. President Biden’s American Jobs Plan does exactly that.
With strong funding for states and Tribes to address the current backlog of these orphan wells, we can put people to work plugging them, protecting groundwater, and curbing hazardous emissions.”
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) also voiced support of Biden’s plan and its funding for abandoned wells, arguing it could be a key part of New Mexico’s recovery from the pandemic supported by the federal government.
Lujan said he planned to introduce legislation in the Senate to create even more funding to plug the wells and remediate the land.
“The public health and economic crisis has hit New Mexicans hard, and I’m working toward finding solutions to create new, good-paying jobs and boost local economies,” he said. “Plugging orphaned oil and gas wells is one common-sense solution to put New Mexicans back to work while also safeguarding our communities from harmful air pollution.
“Cleaning up orphaned oil and gas wells has been a longtime priority of mine, and I’ll be introducing bipartisan legislation in the Senate to make this a reality.”
But Republicans and oil and gas industry group in New Mexico continued to voice criticism of Biden’s unfolding energy policy, worrying the President’s emphasis on renewables could lead to economic ruin for a state deeply reliant on fossil fuels.
Larry Behrens, Santa Fe-based western state director of Power the Future, an organization that says it advocates for energy workers, said Biden’s plan amounted to a “forced” transition to renewables by raising taxes in an effort to “satisfy the eco-left.”
He was critical of $174 billion in incentives for electric vehicles and charging stations included in Biden’s plan, along with $100 billion to update the power grid using renewables and another $46 billion for the federal government to purchase non-carbon vehicles.
Behrens said “less than 1 percent” of the plan would go to helping oil and gas workers who could lose their jobs due to the President’s energy policies.
Power the Future called on the State of New Mexico to join 14 states and their Republican leaders in suing the Biden administration over an ongoing halt on new federal oil and gas leases imposed upon Biden’s inauguration.
New Mexico could have the most to lose from this policy, Behrens said.
He said New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas must act as the state continued to lose oil and gas rigs and other operations to neighboring Texas where most oil and gas production occurs on private land companies are not subjected to Biden’s policies.
“Leaders in fourteen other states are standing up for their energy industry and it’s pathetic to see New Mexico’s Attorney General sit on the sidelines,” Behrens said.
“Hector Balderas was more than happy to sue the previous administration when his eco-left supporters demanded it. Now that New Mexico is losing rigs to Texas, Balderas is silent. It’s past time New Mexico’s leaders stand up for our workers before their out-of-state, eco-left supporters.”
Balderas said he was not contacted by the states involved in the lawsuit and while he did not confirm or deny if he intended to join the suit, he said his office would continue to express to the Biden administration the impacts the leasing halt was having on New Mexico.
“We were never contacted by the states that filed this lawsuit, but I am alerting the Biden administration and Interior Secretary (Deb) Haaland about the potential impacts of this policy on critical funding for law enforcement and social safety net programs,” Balderas said.
Nora Meyers Sackett, press secretary for New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the State hoped the federal administration would give New Mexico credit for its efforts to curb pollution from oil and gas underway since 2019, when Lujan Grisham took office.
Lujan Grisham recently wrote a letter to Biden and his cabinet calling attention to the unique impacts the halt on new federal leases would have on the state’s economy and requested New Mexico be involved and heard on future energy policy decisions.
“We want to be sure the state gets credit for the Lujan Grisham administration’s solid track record of environmental protection and enforcement and be sure that New Mexico gets a seat at the table, which is what the state has been advocating for,” Sackett said.
“We’re optimistic that, working together, the state and federal administration can craft medium- and long-term policies that will ensure New Mexico is not punished for its high concentration of federal lands.”
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-618-7631, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
