CVNM News:
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Legislature closed out the 2022 30-day session Thursday, which began with an extraordinarily ambitious agenda for climate and conservation action.
From climate pollution to voting rights, the legislature took on bills with the potential to address long-standing systemic equity issues that have impacted communities for decades. Although much of what was proposed didn’t pass, deep engagement by the legislature and community advocates has renewed calls for dynamic action on conservation and democracy moving forward.
Several policies did pass both chambers. A program for low-income energy efficiency grants to New Mexicans was created and funded through House Bill 37, Community Energy Efficiency Development (CEED), and an office was created to begin coordinating local, state, federal and Native Nation action to address the multi-generational problem of uranium waste cleanup, in HB 164. Both now await the Governor’s signature.
“State policymakers grappled with weighty issues that are not commonly introduced in a 30-day short session,” CVNM Executive Director Demis Foster said. “This should serve as notice to the legislature about the urgency of action on climate and conservation, and New Mexicans’ demand for action. We still lack a dedicated source of funding for conserving our public lands. We’re facing crisis level needs in our water management. The introduction of visionary legislation like House Bill 6, the Clean Future Act, should be seen as a bellwether – the impacts of climate change aren’t waiting for a long session.”
Beyond specific bills won and lost, there was one very clearly missed opportunity in this legislative session. The legislative budget session began with unprecedented opportunities in terms of both state funding and federal revenue to the state, some of it dependent on state funding as a match.
These resources could have fully funded state environmental regulators and made significant, game-changing investments in fighting climate change and protecting and conserving New Mexico landscapes. Legislative appropriators largely left those opportunities on the table.
“Poll after poll shows, and the degree of public participation in the legislative process confirms, that New Mexicans are unified in their desire to see climate action, to see our traditional landscapes and water resources protected,” CVNM Political and Policy Director Ben Shelton said. “Investments in environmental regulation and conservation reap tremendous dividends for the state in terms of jobs, healthier communities, and resilient lands, waters and wildlife. There’s no excuse for not putting our money where New Mexican values clearly are.”
Unfinished business from this session will continue through the interim committee process as CVNM works with coalition partners and allies across the state to move critical climate and conservation policies forward.
