New Mexico Governor Seeks Low-Carbon Fuel Standard

(Associated Press) New Mexico’s Democratic governor on Monday renewed her call for state legislators in the major oil producing state to approve requirements for fuel producers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement that “New Mexico must pass a clean fuel standard in the upcoming legislative session.”

The governor has discretion over which nonbudgetary initiatives are heard during the 30-day legislative session that starts Jan. 18.

Earlier this year, a Democrat-sponsored bill to impose low-carbon fuel standards stalled in the state House of Representatives after winning Senate’s endorsement on a party-line vote with Republicans in opposition. The proposal would not have applied to retailers, including gas stations.

In California, oil refineries can be rewarded for incorporating renewable sources of electricity like solar panels or wind turbines to power the refining process — or by sequestering carbon underground instead of releasing it into the air.

Republican House minority leader James Townsend of Artesia warned in a statement that the governor’s policies could increase fuel prices in rural areas in an effort to please environmental activists.

New Mexico is producing more petroleum than ever before, surpassing North Dakota in recent months as the nation’s No. 2 producer after Texas — boosting greenhouse gas emissions that are created when customers burn the state’s oil or natural gas. READ MORE