Legislative News

Environment New Mexico released its 2008 legislative scorecard today, ranking New Mexico’s legislators state-wide on key environmental votes cast during the 2008 30 day legislative session.

“Since it’s not always possible for citizens to keep track of how decision-makers are voting in Santa Fe, these scorecards help to educate the public about some of the most important issues affecting New Mexico’s environment and how their elected representatives voted,” said Environment New Mexico Director Lauren Ketcham. 

Environment New Mexico scored votes on a variety of issues, including:

-    Energy Efficiency, including a bill requiring utilities to achieve a 10 percent energy savings by 2020, saving consumers money, creating new jobs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

-    Protecting New Mexico’s Limited Water Supply, including a memorial that would have urged Rep. Tom Udall to withdraw his support for the Clean Water Restoration Act, needed to protect the water quality of New Mexico's rivers, streams and lakes.

-    Developer Subsidies, including a bill that would have authorized a $629 million tax increment bond for a 55,000 acre sprawling development on Albuquerque's west mesa.

-   Regulatory Rollbacks, including several bills, resolutions and memorials that would have violated the separation of powers and threatened key environmental protections by allowing the legislature to enact laws that prohibit regulatory rules from taking effect until reviewed and approved by the legislature and creation of regulatory taskforces biased towards industry that would review the state's regulatory agencies, possibly leading to deregulation and a weakening of New Mexico's environmental agencies and programs.

-   Public Land Protection, including a memorial that would have supported the sale of federal public lands to provide additional tax revenue and a second memorial initiating a study to investigate problems associated with off-road vehicles on New Mexico's public lands.

-   Children’s Outdoor Education, including a bill that would have placed a 1 percent tax on video games and televisions to pay for children's outdoor education programs.

-   Dirty Energy Projects and Subsidies, including memorials that would have created a study to examine eliminating the coal surtax, providing a $6.9 million subsidy to the extraction industry and urged the U.S. Department of Energy to determine that more dangerous radioactive waste can be stored at New Mexico's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

Environment New Mexico will distribute its environmental Scorecards to over 25,000 New Mexicans.

“These scorecards provide New Mexicans with critical information on whether their legislators voted for or against the protection of our air, land, and water,” stated Ketcham. “Using this tool, voters can determine for themselves if their legislators are representing their values in Santa Fe.”

The scorecard is available at: www.environmentnewmexico.org/scorecard