Co-op May Sue Environmental Board

By John Severance

The Socorro Electric Co-operative may be involved in a lawsuit and have quite a battle on its hands.
Co-op general manager Polo Pineda passed out an informational packet to the trustees at a Jan. 27 meeting, detailing a possible lawsuit that may be filed against New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board by three state congressmen and eight different entities including the New Mexico Rural Electric Cooperative Association. The Socorro Co-op is part of the NMRECA.
The lawsuit challenges the State Environmental Improvement Board’s (EIB) authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions in New Mexico in a court in Lovington.
The EIB is considering a proposal from a New Energy Economy Petition to cap greenhouse gas emissions from certain industries in the state. If approved, the regulation would limit the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level to 25 percent below the 1990 level by 2020.
“It would be an economic disaster if this went through,” Pineda told the board.
In a series of hearings over the last year, the EIB has agreed to hear the petition and has ruled that it has jurisdiction to decide the case. Public hearings about setting a state cap on global warming pollution will begin March 1 in Santa Fe, and expert testimony will start June 16.
“The lawsuit filed has absolutely no merit,” says Dr. John Fogarty,
Executive Director of New Energy Economy. “This is like saying that a doctor doesn’t have the ability to treat asthma.”
“The EIB has the authority under existing law to implement statewide limits on global warming pollution, and we have asked them to exercise that authority in a manner consistent with the latest scientific consensus on climate change,” says Bruce Frederick, an attorney from the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, which is the legal team supporting the petition.
The New Mexico based non-profit organization, New Energy Economy, filed a petition with the EIB in December 2008 asking the state to reduce emissions based on the best available science. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), composed of more than 1,200 leading international scientists, has concluded that developed nations must reduce global warming pollution by at least 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to avoid catastrophic changes, according to New Energy Economy publicist Jennifer Marshall of Santa Fe.
The cap would apply to all New Mexico entities that require an air permit from the New Mexico Environment Department . The EIB is responsible for adopting environmental regulations for New Mexico and it is made up of seven members who are appointed by Governor Bill Richardson.
According to the packet obtained by the Mountain Mail, the co-op has two avenues to
present its views to the EIB.
One is that EIB will have a public comment session March 1 in Santa Fe and the other is to write the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board.
Here are the talking points suggested to the co-op by its attorney.
•As a resident of New Mexico, I’m concerned about the impact the petition introduced by the
New Energy Economy to place authority in the hands of the Environmental Improvement Board to cap greenhouse gas emissions in the state would have on electricity costs.
• Not only does the New Mexico EIB not have the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions on our state, this regulation would do very little, if anything to solve a global challenge.
•This proposed regulation would exist for New Mexico businesses only, putting our large and small business at risk for leaving the state to conduct their operations in more economically friendly parts of the country.
• We need to focus on a multi-faceted approach to manage emissions, while investing in technologies that ensure affordable and reliable electricity.
• The cost of energy and goods could increase significantly in New Mexico, putting our state’s economy at a competitive disadvantage to other states.
• New Mexico’s businesses can’t afford these regulations being proposed by the New Energy Economy.
• I urge you to not move forward with the program contained in this New Energy Economy petition. In the end, it’s New Mexico businesses and consumers, who will play, while doing virtually nothing to solve a worldwide problem.

Co-op May Sue Environmental Board