Governors lead the way on climate change

Of all the ways a governor can make a difference, believing in climate change is one way Michelle Lujan Grisham could improve not just New Mexico, but the nation.

With government divided in Washington, D.C. — the GOP controls the presidency and the Senate, the Democrats the House — much of the action will shift to state policy to fight climate change and reduce greenhouse gases. That’s why the switchover from climate deniers to governors who believe their actions will make a difference is crucial.

As grist.org pointed out, Lujan Grisham is one of the governors in six states whose policy approaches could improve the prospects of the planet. Another site that watches climate change, cleantechnica.com, called Lujan Grishm a “potential climate hawk.” With a president more interested in greenbacks than green energy, states — and cities such as Santa Fe — are where the action can happen.

Eric Holthaus of grist.org writes, “Newly elected Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is aiming to transform New Mexico — the third largest oil-producing state in the country, behind Texas and North Dakota — into an environmental leader. She wants the state to be able to produce so much renewable energy that they can export it to California.”

Increasing renewable energy as part of the state’s energy plan is not all that a governor can do. New Mexico, as compared to Colorado, is not even being as aggressive — there, newly elected governor Jared Polis campaigned on a promise to move to 100 percent renewable energy by 2040. New Mexico, now the third-largest oil producer in the country, is not going quite to that extreme. Polis is another governor being singled out for being able to impact climate policy.

However, another area in which a governor can — and must — make a difference, is finding ways at the state level to do such things as regulate methane waste. Sensible Environmental Protection Agency rules put in place by the Obama administration are in the process of being gutted by President Donald Trump. That means that pollution will continue, putting the health of New Mexicans at risk and wasting opportunities to capture methane gas for sale.

Lujan Grisham’s promise during the campaign to tackle methane waste is being taken seriously, too. Some 29 progressive, community and environmental groups are taking out advertisements (including in The New Mexican) thanking the governor-elect for her pledge to reduce such pollution. As the advertisement points out, oil and gas producers in the state waste as much as $240 million yearly in natural gas that leaks or is flared or vented during production.

Not only is that $27 million in lost royalties, the methane in natural gas is a significant pollutant, with a methane cloud hanging over the Four Corners area that can be spotted from space. We believe there is support in the state for legislation to control this pollution, which will have the beneficial impact of making money for producers and reducing health risks for the rest of us.

There are other ways a governor can act on climate change — supporting mass transit so that individual car and truck trips are reduced; working with state public lands officials and the federal government on better management to reduce extreme fire danger; and installing solar panels on government buildings and land. Outgoing Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed a solar energy tax credit; Lujan Grisham would sign such a bill. And so on.

Already, a bipartisan alliance of governors announced this fall it would work at the state level on climate change since the federal government had abandoned its role. In addition to attempting to gut rules controlling methane pollution, the Trump administration wants more reliance on fossil fuels, less fuel-efficient cars, has left the Paris Agreement on global warming and placed tariffs on the import of solar panels. The tariffs alone have led to the freezing or canceling of $2.5 billion in new, large-scale solar projects.

The alliance of governors understands that for any progress to be made on the most important issue facing not just the country but the world, states and cities are the only avenues for action until a different president is in the White House.

According to Atlantic magazine reporting in September, governors agreed to better manage natural land, attempt to soften the solar panel tariffs and cut back on pollutants such as methane. Governors also agreed to spend $1.4 billion on building infrastructure for electric cars, using money won in the settlement of a class-action suit against Volkswagen over the company’s falsified emission tests.

All of this is happening through the U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition of states that is agreeing to abide by the Paris Agreement even if the national government backed away. Now, with Lujan Grisham as the next governor, New Mexico can take its rightful place to fight global warming and climate change. At the same time, the state can position itself for the industries of the future. This promises a winning combination for the future of New Mexico.