Do New Mexico Leaders Agree with Biden’s Plan to End Drilling?

March 16, 2020

The presumptive Democratic nominee for President is very clear about what he wants to do to the oil industry. The only question is, do New Mexico’s elected leaders agree?

During last night’s Presidential debate, former Vice President Joe Biden couldn’t have been any clearer: “No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period.”

Biden is telling the nation he is ready to wreak havoc on New Mexico’s economy by killing energy development. In New Mexico, the energy industry accounts for over 100,000 good-paying jobs and billions in revenue.

It wasn’t that long ago in 2016 when Republican leaders in the state were asked to respond to any comment or tweet made by then-candidate Donald Trump. It will be interesting to see if the same standard applies to Biden’s comments about one of New Mexico’s top industries.

The recent fall in oil prices is already coming with some hard questions for leaders who crafted New Mexico’s state budget. The next set of questions for those leaders should be whether or not they agree with Biden when it comes to energy.