Fracking pause will not impact the state economy

Recently, President Biden issued an executive order that pauses NEW oil and gas leasing on federal lands. It does not impact existing leases or drilling permits.

I’m in favor of taking time to pause, to catch our breath, and undo the damage done the past four years to New Mexico’s public lands from over 125 rollbacks on environmental protections. We need to drastically reduce methane emissions from wells, protect our water supplies, protect wildlife corridors and ecosystems, and plan for a transition to a clean energy future.

I recently watched a meeting of the New Mexico Senate Finance Committee where they listened to reports from oil and gas, and state agency representatives about the financial impact of the federal executive order.

I’m not convinced that this pause will have any financial impact on New Mexico, or the oil and gas industry. The oil and gas industry has stockpiled millions of acres of leases on federal lands during the last few years, with many oil executives saying they can ride out the next four years, according to AP reports. The industry also sits on approximately 6,000 drilling permits that have not yet been drilled, according to the director of the state Oil Conservation Division.

If anything, we’ve had too many leases that were approved in the last few years, without enough environmental review, especially in places that shouldn’t have been leased, like those near Chaco Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns and Otero Mesa.

MARY ANN DEBOER CHAMA