NM Land Commissioner imposes arbitrary boundaries on oil and gas

According to news reports New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard has imposed a one-mile boundary on NEW oil and gas leases around schools. The limit ONLY applies to lands managed by the State Land Office and it also only applies to future leases and does not apply to tribal, federal, or private lands.

No scientific studies are cited by Garcia Richard or the Land Office. If there WERE studies illustrating such health dangers, you can bet that the Gov. and Legislature would have acted long ago to address current drilling, not just future drilling on SOME lands.

In the grand scheme of things this is likely simply virtue signaling as there undoubtedly few state lands within a mile of a school that have NOT already been leased. But that’s the point. While RGF does not often discuss land commission issues, the fact that New Mexico’s State Land Office generates 90% percent of its revenues from oil and gas, yet the logo is below says it all.