RGF testifies on two bills in House Energy Committee (one good, one bad)

RGF had a chance to testify in the Legislature on Tuesday, March 4, before the Energy Committee in the House.

We spoke against SB 23 which, if adopted, will raise “royalty rates” on oil extracted from certain state managed tracts of oil and gas rich land in Southeast New Mexico. The bill barely made it through the committee on a 5-4 vote (a few Democrats were absent). The RGF sees tax hikes as unnecessary (and told the Committee as much) because New Mexico already gets the highest percentage of revenue from oil and gas extraction of any state.  This is thanks to other taxes besides royalties such as the gross receipts tax.

Also, New Mexico is sitting on $61 billion and massive annual budget surpluses thanks to oil and gas. Little of this money is being returned to taxpayers. Instead it is either funding future or current government spending.

A second bill, HB 273 was introduced by Rep. Randall Pettigrew (R-Hobbs). Pettigrew’s bill would add “combined cycle natural gas plants” to the stable of “renewable” energy sources under the 2019 Energy Transition Act. Testimony, was, but a vote was not taken. That will presumably happen on Thursday. The ETA never made sense in the absence of the use of natural gas which is MUCH cleaner and a 50-60% lower source of CO2 relative to coal. Of course, natural gas is cheap and expected to be so for a long time and it is produced right here in New Mexico.

Needless to say, so-called “environmentalists”: HATE the bill.

Another bill was scheduled but not heard. HB 270 would have repealed the Gov.’s EV mandate and prohibited unelected boards like the unelected Environmental Improvement Board from passing such mandates.