Sister Joan Brown: For modern era, update oil and gas laws

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In an opinion piece published in The New Mexican (Santa Fe), Sister Joan Brown, executive director of Interfaith Power & Light- New Mexico and El Paso, called on the state of New Mexico to modernize laws covering the oil and gas industry.  Here an excerpt from the  piece.

For modern era, update oil and gas laws

Many things in the world have changed since 1935 when New Mexico’s laws for oil and gas were written. Since then, New Mexico has grown to be the second-largest oil-producing state, behind only Texas. Oil and gas development has exploded in our state, impacting our environment, climate, public health and front-line communities. But the oil and gas laws of 1935 have not kept pace with the world we live in today.

Businesses are run by people who have families and want to be ethical and moral. Making policy changes in oil and gas rules to include public health, communities, our children and our future would help everyone. How many of us live life as it was 90 years ago?

We all must care for the common good. Updating antiquated rules for the 21st century makes sense. One area is to ensure taxpayers aren’t left to clean up the mess when wells inevitably run dry and need to be plugged. Taxpayers are left to foot the bill to clean up these polluting wells — a burden now and a debt our children must bear.

As part of the 2021 infrastructure bill, Sen. Ben Ray Luján secured a $4.7 billion investment to plug orphan wells. Wells in New Mexico are orphaned when operators go under — often in an inevitable oil bust — and walk away without cleaning up their mess. These abandoned, unplugged wells can lower property value and land productivity, pollute groundwater and release known carcinogens into our air. Too often, states, tribes, the federal government and taxpayers are left to pay to plug wells. Communities are left with polluted lands.

We have never had enough money to plug these orphaned wells, and we now have nearly 2,400 orphan wells in New Mexico, with potentially thousands more that are at risk of becoming orphaned in the near future. The Book of Genesis in the Old Testament instructs us to be caretakers, not polluters or destroyers. Plugging wells is a way to caretake and be responsible.

Read full op-ed

Report: New Mexico’s largest emitters overlooked in state climate policy

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Through an executive order and state legislation, New Mexico has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions 45 percent by 2030 and required all utilities to decarbonize their electricity supply by 2045.

In light of these ambitious climate policies, a team of researchers from PSE Healthy Energy and the University of New Mexico analyzed large stationary sources of climate- and health-damaging pollution—including fossil fuel-fired power plants, oil refineries, gas processing plants and compressor stations, manufacturing plants, and landfills—in New Mexico. The report includes a location-based analysis and provides suggestions for maximizing the public health and climate benefits of state policies.

Based on their analysis, the researchers found that:

  • Large stationary sources contribute approximately one quarter of New Mexico’s greenhouse gas emissions
  • Large stationary sources are significant contributors of health-damaging air pollutants
  • Oil and gas and electric power sectors are the largest contributors of health-damaging air pollutant emissions among large stationary sources
  • Smaller “large sources” are important contributors of health-damaging pollution
  • Many large stationary sources are located in communities with a high proportion of people of color or low-income households
  • Four areas stand out as regions with clusters of large stationary sources:
    • San Juan Basin: San Juan, Rio Arriba, and McKinley counties include 65 large facilities, 56 of which are in the oil and gas sector. This region has a very high population of Native American residents.
    • Permian Basin: Chaves, Lea, and Eddy are home to 69 facilities, 53 of which are in the oil and gas sector.
    • Albuquerque, Bernalillo, and Sandoval Counties: The metropolitan area has the largest population in the state and contains 15 large stationary sources, including a mine, landfills, manufacturing, an airport, and the university.
    • Las Cruces and Dona Aña County: Nine large stationary sources are situated in this region, and three facilities are located in low-income communities of color in Sunland Park.

Here are more details of the study