Key environmental takeaways from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's 'State of the State' speech

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham did not mention climate change or any effort by the State of New Mexico to curb pollution as she addressed the state and its lawmakers Tuesday during her annual State of the State speech.

The annual speech and Lujan Grisham’s fourth, is intended to outline her administration’s top priorities going into the 2022 Legislative Session which also commenced on Jan. 18.

In the last year, New Mexico established multiple new regulations on oil and gas operations and intended to reduce its impact on the environment and greenhouse gas pollution.

More:Senator Martin Heinrich renews call for climate action in 2022 via Build Back Better Act

Ahead of the session, multiple bills were filed to do so as well, looking to cut air pollution and address numerous environmental concerns shared across the state.

Here are the biggest environmental takeaways from Lujan Grisham’s speech.

No mention of climate change

Not once during the governor’s 30 minute speech did the topic of climate change arise.

More:Proposed 'Clean Future Act' targets greenhouse gas emissions in New Mexico

She made no mention of her administration’s previous commitments to cut pollution and reduce pollution from multiple sectors including oil and gas and transportation.

Lujan Grisham did not give an update on progress of the Energy Transition Act, which was meant to help the state shift away from its reliance on fossil fuel revenue and target a “carbon-free” electrical grid by 2045.

This occurred as Lujan Grisham’s administration supported an increase in renewable energy in New Mexico aimed at cutting carbon emissions, and following the pre-filing of the Clean Fuel Standard, which was promoted by the governor’s and her cabinet to lower air-polluting emissions from the transportation sector.

More:Environmental policy tops Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's 2023 budget recommendation

Another bill, the Clean Future Act, was also touted by the governor as a means to reduce greenhouse gasses in the state, setting benchmarks for lowering emissions and setting up a fund to assist in its implementation.

‘Clean’ hydrogen touted as a means to grow economy, cut pollution

Throughout 2021, Lujan Grisham expressed a major interest in growing an industry for “clean hydrogen” which would see the chemical used as a power source many believed would result in less pollution.

The Hydrogen Hub Act was discussed by state leaders but had yet to be pre-filed or introduced in the Legislature as of Tuesday but was identified as a main priority of the administration during this year’s session.

More:Q&A: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham talks climate change, energy transition at COP26

It would offer subsidies to energy companies developing and investing in hydrogen power projects.

An early-released draft of the bill did include limits for carbon emissions hydrogen projects must meet to qualify for the incentives.

“And clean hydrogen will support thousands of jobs, especially in rural New Mexico, while helping us sprint toward our net-zero carbon deadlines and decarbonize the transportation sector,” Lujan Grisham said during her speech.

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But New Mexico’s environmental groups questioned if hydrogen was truly a path toward reducing pollution, arguing that most of the hydrogen power currently generated in the U.S. requires the burning of extracted natural gas.

Opponents of the governor’s hydrogen plan also argued it would provide incentives to the same energy companies environmentalists blamed for much of the state’s air pollution.

A report from the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club showed hydrogen production was responsible for up to 4 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.

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“Fossil gas hydrogen isn’t a climate solution and it’s problematic to throw state taxpayer subsidies at fossil gas hydrogen developers and their investors under the pretext that this will somehow trickle down to the benefit of New Mexico communities and workers,” said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center.

New Mexico has ‘unimaginable’ funds coinciding with oil and gas recovery

During her speech, Lujan Grisham touted financial gains recently made by the state, without mentioning the source of such gains: oil and gas.

“We have, right now, unimaginable financial resources at our disposal,” she said.

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After an historic bust at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 – sending oil prices below $0 a barrel for the first time in history – New Mexico quickly lost an almost $2 billion surplus as about a third of the state’s budget is tied to the fossil fuel industry.

But 2021 was a year of recovery.

COVID-19 vaccines became available and business and travel restrictions were lifted, regrowing fuel demand and bringing oil and gas production back to New Mexico.

More:Oil and gas leads record $141.8 million in revenue for New Mexico Land Office last month

This meant Lujan Grisham’s administration was able to propose several bumps in spending for public services like education and healthcare.

The agencies responsible for regulating the oil and gas industry and protecting the environment: Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and the New Mexico Environment Department would receive large gains in funding should the governor’s Executive Budget Recommendation be adopted by the Legislature.

But the Legislative Finance Committee proposed a much more modest budget, cautioning the state from spending money gained during a time of prosperity for a fossil fuel industry many worried could see future downtrends.

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“This year we are on an upward trajectory, with federal funds stimulating the economy, oil production surging ahead of other states, and demand for natural gas growing for the first time in years,” wrote Chair of the LFC Rep. Patricia Lundstrom (D-6) in a letter to lawmakers accompanying the committee recommendation.

“But we know from experience, we could easily be on a downward plunge.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-618-7631, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.