New Mexico Political Report — Just hours before the U.S. Senate was scheduled to advance a bipartisan permit reform bill led by New Mexico’s senior senator, Gov.-elect Deb Haaland came out in public opposition to it.
Haaland, a former U.S. Interior Department secretary who oversaw a large portfolio of agencies involved in energy permitting, issued a statement Monday bringing her private opposition out into the public. “I opposed the original permitting reform bill and I oppose the amendment. I stand with the Tribal Nations in New Mexico and across the country, who have warned that this legislation denies Tribes meaningful consultation and weakens their ability to protect culturally significant sites,” said Haaland.
The original bill drew almost universal condemnation from Tribal governments and Native nations because they said it lacked specific requirements for Tribal consultation on permitted projects impacting their land. An amendment draft released by Heinrich over the weekend included language requiring Tribal consultation in federal permitting. Haaland has also called for a moratorium on future data centers in New Mexico until the legislature addresses concerns over energy and environmental issues. Heinrich’s bill would establish the first federal rules for data centers, including a requirement that new centers be reliant on their own energy to avoid increasing costs for other users.
Heinrich and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat of Rhode Island, held a press conference on Capitol Hill this morning in part to address opposition from traditional Democratic allies. Echoing sentiments heard during a roundtable with local building trades leaders last month in Albuquerque, the senators noted that extended litigation blocks well-paying jobs to build energy facilities that are needed to expedite the nation’s transition to clean energy. Heinrich also addressed opposition from advocacy groups who have successfully used lawsuits to stop projects in the past. “There has been a reliance on litigation to stop by projects. But that reliance has also created a permitting structure where even really good projects still get litigated,” Heinrich said. He suggested that their strategies would shift to a more certain process that would result in “bad projects being killed sooner.”
We reached out to Sen. Heinrich for a comment on Haaland’s statement and will update this report if he responds.
