Senate Conservation (SCONC)

The Senate Conservation Committee is responsible for almost every issue that touches on our environment: energy, air quality, water, wildlife, land use and more.  Chaired by Senator Bernadette Sanchez, the committee—somewhat ironically—is not known for its genuine conservation values.  Although some positive legislation does emerge unscathed, most significant proactive environmental bills are doomed to failure here.  In 2011, these included common-sense measures to:

• require disclosure of energy consumption for commercial buildings, so buyers or lessors would know the size of their utility bills before closing the deal (SB442, Cisneros),
• provide a small degree of protection for New Mexico farmers against contamination by genetically-modified seeds and unfair legal action from big, multi-national biotechnology companies (SB384, Fischmann), and
• increase the energy efficiency of utilities by more accurately calculating and reflecting the cost-effectiveness of efficiency programs (SB276, Wirth).

Perhaps more disturbing about the Senate Conservation Committee is the often perfunctory assessment of sweeping measures to dismantle critical safeguards that protect our air, land and water.  After very little analysis or discussion, legislation swiftly passed the Conservation Committee that would:

• open the door to massive water speculation, where entities—including out-of-state or multi-national corporations—could market in our valuable public water resources for private profit (SB236, P. Griego),
• void New Mexico’s efforts to curb air pollution by prohibiting emission reduction rules that are more stringent than federal law—depriving New Mexico of the authority to set our own air quality standards (SB489, Harden), and
• expedite siting of transmission lines, using alarming methods like overriding all local laws, regulations and policies (SB500, Leavell).

The 2011 legislative session included a few bright spots for the Senate Conservation Committee, however.  Most notably, the Chair of the Committee, Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, refused to hear a bill (HB297, T. Garcia) that jeopardized our drinking water by drastically reducing oversight of inactive oil and gas wells, which pose a major threat of groundwater contamination.

Chair:  Sen. Bernadette Sanchez
Vice-Chair:  Sen. David Ulibarri
Ranking Member:  Sen. William Sharer