Governor should sift through haze for solid methane rules

A public comment tour asking New Mexicans of all political stripes their opinions on how to best address methane emissions from oil and gas operations sounds like a good thing.

And it is good that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Cabinet members are showing they’re willing to listen — in Farmington and Albuquerque last week. and Carlsbad this week — because climate change and the energy industry are topics people care about, as was clear in stories published in the July 31 and Aug. 1 Journal.

The stakes on this issue couldn’t be higher. The fate of the planet — our air, water and land — depends on how climate change is handled, and methane emissions are a far more potent contributor to greenhouse gases than, for example, carbon dioxide. Meanwhile, our state coffers are currently well nourished thanks to the presence of extraction energy operators.

And because the stakes and emotions are so high, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and her departments of Environment and Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources will want to drill down past much of that public input. Because while it’s important that the governor listens to all sides, emotions and politics should not dictate important decisions here. Science should. And New Mexico needs sciencebased solutions.

We need the people who know the science — in the public and private sectors — to sit down in a room together, reach a consensus on what the facts are and what they mean, and then come up with more than feel-good recommendations to get an action plan that works for the state as a whole.

The fact that folks in the energy industry, environmental advocacy, and state and federal government regulation can’t even agree on basic facts and figures regarding the amount of emissions or how to reduce them is a disturbing reminder of how rhetoric can get out in front of an issue. The governor will need to sift through this haze, and make wise and fair decisions to both clean up and protect our environment, as well as remain cognizant of the role energy plays in funding public services so many New Mexicans rely on.