Governor Susana Martinez

Red Flag Warning: Governor Martinez’s Inauspicious Start

Susana Martinez rode a wave of voter discontent to victory in November 2010 as the country’s first-ever female Hispanic governor.  While her election made history for good reason, her tenure so far is making history for all the wrong ones:  arguably, Susana Martinez is the most anti-environmental governor in our state’s history.

New Mexicans care deeply about our Land of Enchantment…  Our culture and traditions are all rooted in this land that has nurtured us throughout history—the rivers, mesas, forests and wildlife that have nourished and protected us.  We treasure our quality of life, and we count on our leaders to honor our legacy and tend to our future.

We can’t count on Susana Martinez.

Not content to simply neglect her role as caretaker, Governor Martinez has launched an aggressive attack on the safeguards on which New Mexicans depend to protect the water we drink and the air we breathe.  She is systematically working to dismantle these safeguards—threatening the security of our families and communities.

Imagine your drinking water being contaminated by toxic waste from industrial dairies or oil and gas pits.  Imagine drought and fire seasons more disastrous than this one, and getting worse and worse over time.  Imagine your child struggling for breath—unable to walk to school or play outside because of air contamination from unregulated polluters.

This is not the future New Mexicans want.  But it’s the future that Governor Martinez is creating.

The Agenda of the Martinez Administration

Although the list of disturbing decisions by the Martinez administration is far too long to include here, these are some of the most troubling:

Unlawful Suspension of Rules

Immediately upon her swearing-in on January 1st, Governor Martinez unlawfully suspended publication of several rules that were put in place to reduce carbon pollution, increase the energy efficiency of buildings, and protect water from contamination by waste from dairy factories.  The Supreme Court quickly tossed out her actions as clearly unlawful, and directed immediate publication of the rules.

“Small Business” Task Force

In the same Executive Order suspending publication of important rules, Governor Martinez established a “Small Business-Friendly Task Force”.  It’s too bad the task force isn’t “New Mexican-friendly”.

First, the administration released no information about the composition, directives or meetings of the task force.  Subsequent information was released only after public records inspection requests by reporters and non-profit organizations.  When the administration finally divulged the membership of the task force, it was stacked with lobbyists for big polluting industries and out-of-state corporations.  There were no representatives from “mom & pop” shops, the scientific or public health community, or any public interest organization.

Then (after another public records request), the Economic Development Department released the task force’s midpoint report, which stated: “The goal is to provide the Governor and/or agencies cover when repealing or revising a rule…”.  If the Martinez administration were fighting for the interests of ordinary New Mexicans instead of big special interests, “providing cover” would be unnecessary.

When the task force released its final report in April 2011, the conclusion was hardly surprising given its membership.  The first recommendation? “State rules and regulations should not be more stringent than federal standards,” and existing rules should be “corrected”.  However, federal standards are the lowest common denominator for the nation; states must adapt these standards to meet local needs and circumstances.  Water is scarcer in New Mexico than most states, so we have rules to protect our water supply that go beyond what is necessary elsewhere.  The same applies to every other facet of public and environmental health.  New Mexicans should determine for ourselves what rules are necessary here, and not leave our future up to whatever the federal government decides.

The bottom line is that the task force operated with no transparency, no public involvement or input, and certainly no mandate to serve the public interest.

Nomination of Harrison Schmitt

Governor Martinez then thumbed her nose at scientific consensus by nominating Harrison Schmitt to serve as Secretary of Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources.  Among other controversies, Schmitt is well-known for calling environmentalists “communists”, denying human-caused climate change, blaming regulation for the BP oil spill (instead of BP’s failure to comply with existing rules), opposing the “invasion” of illegal immigrants, and supporting racial profiling.  None of these comments are worthy of a Cabinet Secretary in New Mexico, and fortunately Schmitt withdrew his nomination under questionable circumstances.

But Governor Martinez showed extremely poor judgment in nominating Schmitt in the first place. Many of the Governor’s other nominations have been equally disturbing, including her recent appointment of a dairy industry lobbyist and mining employee to the Water Quality Control Commission.

Dismantling Critical Safeguards

Since the legislative session, Governor Martinez has set about to systematically dismantle a number of critical health and environmental safeguards.  Among others, her administration has repealed energy-efficient building codes—adopted after two years of public process and negotiation—that were designed to save New Mexicans money on their utility bills while reducing harmful carbon pollution.

In July, Governor Martinez’s game commission reversed a rule that had suspended trapping in the Gila and Apache national forests.  These traps have injured at least 14 endangered Mexican gray wolves since 2002.  Allowing them to be used in some of the wolf’s most critical habitat will further jeopardize the recovery of the species, and harm other wildlife as well.

Veto of Common-Sense Initiatives

In addition to dismantling public health, safety and environmental rules, the Governor chose to veto common-sense initiatives passed by the state legislature with overwhelming bi-partisan support.  Among these were laws to:

• protect our water from mercury contamination from dental clinic waste (passed both chambers of the legislature unanimously)

• provide the public with clear and transparent information about the expenditure of their tax dollars—including subsidies to the oil and gas industry (passed both chambers of the legislature unanimously)

• protect cyclists on New Mexico roads—important because our state has one of the highest cyclist and pedestrian fatality rates in the country (passed the House and Senate by narrower margins)

• allow colleges to access financing for energy efficiency measures, repaying the bonds through reductions in their utility bills, but saving additional money in the process (passed the House unanimously and the Senate by a margin of 30-3)

Governor Martinez has served only seven months of a four-year term, but has already racked up a surprisingly lengthy record of siding with big special interests over the good of regular New Mexicans.  In her quest to gut public health and safety rules—seemingly at the behest of the big corporations represented on her secret task force—she is hurting New Mexico families and jeopardizing the future of our communities and quality of life.

We can only hope that she will soon see the error of her ways, and start looking out for the voters who elected her.