State Senator Larry Scott, District 42
There is an old saying in New Mexico that ‘Water is Life’ and it is true that without this precious substance, existence in the desert southwest would not be possible. Just as vital to our ability to live here is the availability of energy. Available, reliable, and affordable energy is crucial to our economic welfare and our prosperity.
Yet current legislative proposals are putting development of our energy resources in jeopardy. The misguided notion that greenhouse gas emissions must drop to zero threatens our prosperity and puts us on a path to poverty. The Senate Conservation Committee just passed a bill that mandates a complete elimination of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Admittedly, energy production does produce limited emissions, but it is undeniable that these production facilities are directly linked to our state’s economic prosperity.
We are already seeing the effects of this Governor’s executive order mandating reductions. The San Juan Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant in northwest New Mexico, was forced to close recently, costing approximately 1000 New Mexico residents their jobs. Let’s face it— the CO2 emissions eliminated by the closure of this power plant will have no measurable impact on the atmosphere of the planet but is still taking a significant toll on the now-unemployed coal miners and plant workers, many of them members of the Navajo Nation. Nearby Central Consolidated Schools noted, for example, that the plant closure created a 700% increase in homelessness in their school district.
Just picture this: A Navajo miner walks into his kitchen after a long day at work, hangs up his hard hat, and sits down at the table with a cup of coffee. His wife is cooking dinner. He starts the conversation with this: “Honey, I lost my job today, but it’s okay as long as NM comes into full compliance with the Paris climate accords.”
Looking forward, electric power suppliers are indicating that there is a wait of up to twenty-four months to establish industrial power connections in some parts of the state. Put simply, there is too little power being generated or too little capacity to route power where it’s needed to meet the additional demand. As a result, businesses will not choose to locate here, robbing New Mexicans of economic opportunities.
For example, there appears to be new potential in the realm of data centers and ‘artificial intelligence’ facilities. Estimates are that as much as $500 BILLION dollars will be expended to develop this capability nationwide. Sadly, much of this economic opportunity will bypass New Mexico because we simply cannot provide the electricity to power such operations. The jobs, payroll taxes, gross receipts taxes, and prosperity will slip through our fingers, like smoke through our otherwise emissions-free atmosphere.
