Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, sponsor of the Clear Horizons Act, which would codify emission reduction targets, defends the bill during a debate on the state Senate floor Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. Nathan Burton/The New Mexican

By DANIEL J. CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican

A contentious proposal to put New Mexico’s pollution reduction goals into state statute went up in smoke Wednesday.

The New Mexico Senate on Wednesday rejected Senate Bill 18, known as the Clear Horizons Act, on a 19-23 vote. Seven Democrats joined all their Republican colleagues in voting against the measure, which has generated support from conservation groups and opposition from the oil and gas sector and other industries.

The writing was on the wall even before roll call.

While Republican senators had vowed to fight the bill tooth and nail, none stood up to voice their opposition Wednesday.

Senate Republicans issued a news release claiming a “massive victory” minutes after the vote, saying they “led the charge to defeat the highly-publicized and detrimental” environmental initiative.

“This proposal sought to codify an impossible-to-attain ‘zero emissions’ environmental mandate by the year 2050,” the release states.

In a joint statement, the Senate Republican caucus called Wednesday a “great day for New Mexican citizens, employees, employers, industry leaders, small business owners, investors, and entrepreneurs.”

“We are proud to stand united in our fierce opposition to radical and damaging policies like Senate Bill 18 that seek to destroy our state’s lifeline: our vital industries and businesses,” they said.

This is the second time Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, has run the bill, which would have put into state law the emissions reduction goals set during Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s tenure.

In a statement after the vote, Demis Foster, CEO of Conservation Voters New Mexico, said lawmakers ­“chose to side with a fear-based disinformation campaign led by the state’s polluting industries.” The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association advertised heavily against the bill on social media and elsewhere.

“We stand with the New Mexican families impacted by wildfires, floods, heat, and rising utility costs in pushing for a better future,” Foster said.

At the outset of Wednesday’s debate, several Democratic lawmakers implored their colleagues to support the bill. Sen. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces, said New Mexico is already experiencing the impacts of climate change and that the “new norm of natural disasters” is why the Senate has spent so much time funding disaster recovery.

“Natural disaster, devastation on our communities, isn’t a matter of if. It’s a matter of when,” he said. “It is a fact that climate change is real. This year here in Santa Fe might be known as the year with no winter. We’ve all experienced it. Now, whether it’s directly due to man-made causes, it certainly is exacerbated by that, and that means we are all complicit.”

Sen. Debbie O’Malley, a former Albuquerque city councilor and Bernalillo County commissioner, said she has “witnessed industry cry wolf all too often.” O’Malley, D-Albuquerque, compared it to the debate over banning smoking in restaurants in Albuquerque, which business groups lobbied heavily against and warned would destroy their trade.

“According to them, the sky was falling. … Of course, it has not been the case at all,” she said.

Sen. Harold Pope, D-Albuquerque, called New Mexico a “key contributor” to climate change and said it has a moral responsibility to “step up and lead.”

“I think we question on this floor and in our interim committees, ‘Why are we doing climate policy in New Mexico? What about the other states? What about the world?’” he said. “But we forget that we are the second-biggest oil producer in this country. We are at the epicenter of what’s happening and why we have climate change.”