Green Deeds & Duds

Champions

Although there weren’t enough priority floor votes to generate fair numerical scores for each legislator, the following Senators and Representatives did not cast any anti-conservation votes in this scorecard.  We applaud them (and you should too!) for their commitment to the health and environment of all New Mexicans.

Green Deeds

Every year, some legislators make a special effort on an important environmental bill or series of bills.  We are grateful that our champions stand up for the Land of Enchantment every day, but we also appreciate the “green deeds” of other legislators—champion or not.

• After advocates expressed concerns about troublesome language in a memorial (HM3) on national monument designation, the sponsor—Representative Yvette Herrell—worked closely with CVNM, Acoma Pueblo, and others to negotiate substantial changes.  The measure then proceeded with broad support.
• After a harmful amendment that repealed the state’s carbon pollution rule was tacked onto his bill on the Senate floor, Senator Tim Keller withdrew his own legislation (SB30) rather than allow it to move forward with that dangerous clause in it.
• House Appropriations & Finance Committee Chairman Kiki Saavedra and Representative Don Tripp reached across the aisle in the last 48 hours of the session and fought together to restore critical funding to preserve working farms & ranches and restore New Mexico’s rivers.
• Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez and Speaker Ben Lujan made every effort to assign legislation to the proper committees for thorough vetting.  In past years, it has not always been the practice of the legislature to ensure that every measure is assigned to the appropriate committees with the jurisdiction and expertise on that issue.  For example, legally-flawed legislation has proceeded without the opportunity for the Judiciary Committee to address statutory or constitutional issues.  The efforts of Senator Sanchez and Speaker Lujan resulted in more comprehensive and thoughtful consideration of important legislation—better serving the interests of the New Mexicans.

We would also like to extend our deepest appreciation to the following legislators who worked with us to amend bills or memorials they sponsored that we initially opposed.  It is heartening that these sponsors were willing to work with CVNM to try to resolve our concerns, and for the most part they succeeded.  Thank you Representatives David Chavez, Nate Gentry, Bobby Gonzales, Yvette Herrell, Patty Lundstrom, Bill Rehm, Ed Sandoval, and Senators Clinton Harden and Bernadette Sanchez!

Green “Duds”

Even with limited votes, these legislators apparently had difficulty finding a policy they liked that would protect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land and wildlife we treasure.

Senator Rod Adair:

In the experience of CVNM advocates, Sen. Adair—although clearly a proponent of extraction industries and opponent of most environmental rules—has been accessible and at least somewhat pragmatic in his approach to many conservation issues.

Unfortunately, in 2011, that mindset seemed to change.  One of only three Senators to oppose a common-sense measure (SB237) to enable colleges to implement more energy efficiency measures, Sen. Adair also sponsored legislation (SB421) that would have hamstrung designation of cultural properties in New Mexico.

Perhaps most troubling, however, is the floor amendment to SB30 sponsored by Sen. Adair.  A consensus bill developed over a year of negotiations among disparate stakeholders, SB30 would have reformed the rulemaking process in ways demanded by the very industries that Sen. Adair professes to support.  However, Adair’s amendment to SB30 on the floor of the Senate stripped the ability of New Mexico to decide for ourselves what carbon pollution standards are appropriate.  As a result, the sponsor of SB30—Senator Tim Keller—withdrew his own bill, and it failed to pass the legislature.  In the end, Sen. Adair’s effort to tack on a controversial and harmful floor amendment ensured that common-sense, bipartisan legislation failed to pass the Senate.

Senator George Munoz:

On the bright side, Senator George Munoz sponsored SB431—the companion to HB284—which would have allowed local governments to apply environmental gross receipts taxes to investments in renewable energy.

Unfortunately, that bill is the only legislation on this scorecard for which Sen. Munoz gets credit for a pro-conservation position.  Other than that, he struck out.

Like Rod Adair, Sen. Munoz was one of only three Senators to oppose legislation (SB237) designed to save New Mexico colleges money on utility bills by allowing them to access bond financing for energy efficiency investments.  He was also on the wrong side of a bill (SB394) that would have forced taxpayers to subsidize the reallocation of water, instead of promoting much-needed water conservation.

Representative Thomas Garcia:

Many different bills are negotiated in the course of a legislative session.  CVNM and our allies frequently work with sponsors on language that will address concerns we’ve expressed about their legislation.  Unfortunately, our efforts to compromise with Rep. Thomas Garcia on his HB297 were not a positive experience.

As originally drafted, HB297 would have threatened water quality by weakening rules for the monitoring and management of inactive oil and gas wells.  At the request of Rep. Debbie Rodella, the Chair of House Business & Industry Committee (HBIC), CVNM and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center negotiated at length with the bill’s proponents, and finally reached agreement on compromise language.   Rep. Garcia presented the compromise to HBIC as a substitute bill, and it passed unanimously.  However, at the next committee hearing–in House Energy & Natural Resources Committee–Rep. Garcia reversed course and introduced a new substitute that stripped all of the compromise language on which we had worked so hard.  Compromises during the legislative process succeed because everyone negotiates in good faith; when agreements are suddenly broken, it undermines the trust on which those compromises are built.

Representatives Dennis Kintigh and Nora Espinoza:

Representatives Kintigh and Espinoza share the distinction of being the only legislators besides Sen. Adair for whom we have no pro-conservation votes on record in this scorecard.  Given that Rep. Kintigh serves on House Energy & Natural Resources Committee, which considers the full range of conservation-related legislation, this is particularly distressing.

Governor Martinez:

Clearly, Governor Susana Martinez is an obstacle to common-sense environmental and public health policy that protects New Mexicans and our Land of Enchantment.  More information on some of Gov. Martinez’s actions can be found here.