Proposed legislation would dramatically change New Mexico’s principal oil and gas law. Three bills proposed for the New Mexico legislative session would shift the state’s focus on the oil and gas industry by emphasizing public safety and environmental protections, denying permits and increasing penalties for companies in violation of the law, and making
The state’s majority Democrat Legislature has yet to fully fund enforcement of recently strengthened regulations. Despite a Democratic sweep of New Mexico state offices and continuing blue majority in the upcoming Legislature, the future of oil and gas regulation remains hazy. Michelle Lujan Grisham returns to the Governor’s Mansion for another four years,
A new climate is re-writing the story of America’s drylands. Harsh and unrelenting. But also transformative? The dry conditions blanketing much of the American West are setting records nearly every week. Lakes Mead and Powell, the country’s largest reservoirs by capacity, dropped to new lows this year. The Great Salt Lake did, too.
By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue – July 21, 2022 As the region’s climate becomes drier, more pipelines are being proposed despite the economic and climate risks. Pipelines that are advancing the fastest are rural and tribal projects backed by federal funding. The proposals echo a century of large-scale water engineering that ushered