Clean fuels standard will bring public health benefits and savings
In 2021, I introduced two bills: Senate Bill 112, to study the needs of New Mexico’s most impacted frontline workers, to ensure they had a seat at the table in guiding the state’s economic diversification efforts; and SB 11, a clean fuels law to attract new industries in the form of low-carbon producers, importers and marketers to produce cleaner, less costly transportation fuels in-state.
SB 112 passed that year, but it would take three more to pass a clean fuels standard.
In the last week of this year’s legislative session, I was so proud to see the Senate vote 26-14 to pass House Bill 41, co-sponsored by Rep. Kristina Ortez and me. This legislation offers a vast potential to working families because it advances so many of our state’s goals: it creates high-paying jobs; it diversifies both our rural and urban economies; it improves the health of our children and seniors; and at the same time, it makes meaningful progress on climate action.
The real beauty of HB 41 is not only will it bring at least 1,600 full-time jobs and 2,300 construction jobs, generating $470 million in wages and attracting $240 million of investments to position our state to become a leader in low-carbon fuels as it is currently in oil and gas, it will also bring major public health benefits and savings.
No matter where we live, we all want cleaner air and better health. When 1 in 7 New Mexicans suffer from respiratory illnesses like asthma, and our two largest cities of Albuquerque and Las Cruces are ranked in the top 25 cities for poor air quality, passing a clean fuels bill that requires fuel producers and importers to clean up their products is vital to improving and saving lives.
HB 41 provides real, tangible reductions, removing at least 18.5 million metric tons of CO2 — eliminating a year’s worth of pollution from New Mexico’s 570,000 gas-powered cars and trucks.
While some argue against requiring industry to clean up their pollution, I want to point out that at least 40 companies have already gone on record urging state lawmakers to establish a clean transportation fuels market. These companies want a level playing field where they can compete for your dollars by providing fuels whose carbon emissions meet the state’s carbon intensity standard — a standard which will be set by an advisory committee made up of those same companies, as well tribal governments, utilities, nonprofits, farmers, dairies and ranchers.
Because this bill requires technology-neutrality, not mandates that pick winners and losers, we won’t be pitting low-carbon fuel producers against our state’s own oil and gas industry.
Economics tells us market competition brings prices down. With fuel options, our drivers, especially in rural and tribal areas, won’t be yo-yoed by price spikes whenever events on the global market shrink crude oil supplies.
I know this law will be a game-changer — not only for our economic future, the health of our most vulnerable, and the protection of our environment against climate change — but also for every working family to finally be free from price-gouging at the pump.