The New Mexico state Senate voted 19-23 on Wednesday to reject the Clear Horizons Act, a bill that would have codified greenhouse gas emission reduction targets—including a 100% reduction by 2050—into state law. Seven Democrats joined the chamber’s Republican caucus in opposition, delivering a defeat to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, whose 2019 executive order directing a 45% emissions cut by 2030 the bill was designed to make permanent. With Lujan Grisham term-limited and leaving office at year’s end, the order could simply be rescinded by her successor, the Albuquerque Journal reports.
The bill’s defeat came after an aggressive lobbying and advertising blitz from industry groups, including the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and backers of Project Jupiter, a large data center under construction in the southern part of the state. Opponents argued the legislation would burden consumers in one of the nation’s poorest states and threaten an oil and gas sector that generates roughly 35% of New Mexico’s general fund revenue. Notably, not a single senator spoke against the bill on the floor—a sign, observers said, that opponents already had the votes locked down.