New Mexico economy-killing “Clear Horizons” bill to be heard in committee Tuesday

SB 18 is known as the Clear Horizons Bill, but if it were named honestly it would be called the “Destroy New  Mexico’s Economy” act. That’s because the bill is completely unrealistic in its goals. If adopted, the bill would force New Mexicans to  reduce CO2 emissions 45 percent by 2030, 75 percent by 2040, with CO2 emissions completely eliminated by 2050.

I could write an incredibly detailed 1,000 word essay with charts about why this is a bad idea, but here are just a few arguments:

1) If CO2 emissions are a problem then the focus must be on China and India which are emitting more CO2 every single year and dwarfing emissions from the US and Europe which are both declining.

2) This law will never be complied with, but the regulations will impose untold burdens on New Mexico’s economy in the form of job losses, regulatory burdens, and higher prices (no gas stoves, no gas cars, numerous other unrealistic regulations) .

3) If New Mexico policymakers were serious about reducing CO2 emissions they should be discussing ways right now to bring zero-carbon nuclear power to our state. Alas, that is not even a discussion in Santa Fe where the “Energy Transition Act” signed into law by this Gov. in 2019 actually has New Mexico abandoning nuclear power.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes and sign the following which will send a message to legislators in opposition to SB 18. It will be heard in its first committee on Tuesday, but this bill is a top priority for Gov. MLG and is likely to move further through the process. We need all the opposition we can muster RIGHT NOW!