Vote on Statewide NM Carbon Reduction Proposal Expected on Monday 12/6

The New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board (EIB) is expected to make its final decision on a proposal to reduce statewide carbon emissions on Monday, December 6. The meeting begins at 8:30 AM at the New Mexico State Capitol Building, Room 317, 490 Old Santa Fe Trail, in Santa Fe. The rules would apply only to the state’s largest polluters, including power plants, refineries and natural gas processing hubs. Approval would kick-start an economic engine and showcase New Mexico as a national leader, according to New Energy Economy.

“Our proposal is about unleashing investment that will drive innovation and create jobs for New Mexico families and communities while demonstrating national leadership, John Fogarty, MD, President of New Energy Economy, said in a written statement. "Clean energy is the next Industrial Revolution and we’re in a race to see who will lead that revolution. Let’s stake a claim and make New Mexico the beneficiary of the prosperity that’s there for the taking.”

The proposal to reduce carbon pollution is the result of a petition from New Energy Economy (NEE), a New Mexico-based nonprofit organization, and 17 other organizations representing communities, businesses and rural interests. A separate cap-and-trade proposal to reduce carbon pollution was already passed by the EIB on Election Day, November 2. That proposal was sponsored by the New Mexico Environment Department.

Though the EIB already passed the Environment Department-sponsored rules on November 2, its December 6 vote on the NEE proposal is still important because the two rules would complement each other in terms of scope and timing. If implementation of the Environment Department regulations is delayed for any reason, the NEE-sponsored rules would go into effect and would stay in effect until the delayed Environment Department rules came online.

The NEE proposal to be voted on December 6 calls for a carbon reduction program that would be contained entirely within New Mexico, and would have no trade component, as opposed to the Environment Department rules passed on November 2, which allow New Mexico to enter a regional cap-and-trade program known as the Western Climate Initiative, involving select Western states and Canadian provinces.

A decision by the EIB on December 6 would be the culmination of a process begun in December 2008, when the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, acting on behalf of NEE and the other organizations, petitioned the EIB to consider the carbon regulations. The process was halted in early 2010 in response to a lawsuit from utility and oil and gas interests. NEE appealed the injunction to the New Mexico Supreme Court, which unanimously voted in June to reverse the lower court decision, thereby allowing the EIB to consider the proposed rule.