Report: Oil, gas spent $11.5M in N.M. politics
Money was expended on paid lobbyists, dinner and drinks for lawmakers, campaign contributions
In a desert state with some of world’s largest oil reserves and not much other industry, a hefty portion of government funding comes from drilling revenues.
Oil and gas companies also are leading contributors to New Mexico’s elected officials, according to a new report detailing the influence of the fossil fuel industry on state politics.
Oil and gas interests spent $11.5 million on paid lobbyists, dinner and drinks for lawmakers, and campaign contributions between 2017 and 2020, said the report, released Tuesday by New Mexico Ethics Watch and Common Cause New Mexico.
“The recent oil boom in New Mexico has unleashed more than an ocean of oil and gas money: It has unleashed a gusher of campaign contributions, a flurry of lobbyists offering expensive dinners and a mammoth public relations offensive financed by one of the largest and most powerful professional associations in the state,” Common Cause Executive Director Heather Ferguson said in a statement Tuesday.
Robert McEntyre, a spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, did not dispute any of the claims in the report but called it “one-sided” because it did not track spending from environmental groups opposed to the oil and gas industry.
The report “neglects to mention the millions being poured into New Mexico from anti-industry activists from New York or California,” McEntyre said in a statement.
He also questioned the timing of the report. “While our state and country are experiencing one of the greatest health and economic crises we have ever seen, it is appalling that groups like this continue to engage in divisive political attacks at a time when we should be coming together,” he said.
“NMOGA and our members are committed to following the rules and transparently reporting expenditures as required under law,”
McEntyre continued.
During this year’s legislative session, the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association paid for TV ads and full-page newspaper advertisements touting the industry’s financial benefits to the state, the report said.
And in 2018, the association spent $28,000 on a legislative dinner at Casa España in Santa Fe; all 112 lawmakers, their spouses and staff were invited.
From 2013-20, the report said, about 90 lobbyists representing 62 oil and gas companies worked to influence the New Mexico Legislature’s 112 lawmakers. The drilling industry outspent lawyers and the real estate, tobacco and pharmaceutical industries during the 2018 election cycle. It also outspent teachers and health professionals.
Among energy companies, the top five contributors were Chevron Corp., PNM Resources, Devon Energy, Occidental
Petroleum and Concho Resources. ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and Marathon Petroluem Corp. were among the 10 biggest spenders.
“The tentacles of the industry, in short, are everywhere, running through every corner of the state and indeed, the world,” the report said.