AP REPORT: Eco-Groups Influenced And Helped Write New Mexico’s “Green New Deal”

May 20, 2019

Did eco-groups influence and help write recently-passed New Mexico legislation that’s being compared to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal?” According to a new report from the Associated Press, the answer is yes.

In March, New Mexico Democrat Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law the “Energy Transition Act,” a plan to eliminate the jobs of fossil fuel workers, especially those in the coal industry. It would mandate 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2045.

CBS News called the plan, which some estimate will cost at least 1,500 jobs, New Mexico’s very own “mini-Green New Deal.” New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich even referenced the Energy Transition Act as a reason why he didn’t need to vote for Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” when it was called for a vote in the Senate.

While voters were paying attention to Ocasio-Cortez and the eco-stunts in Washington, activists in New Mexico quietly got their way. Now, as it turns out, they were influencing the legislation behind the scenes.

The Associated Press reports that emails reveal how Sarah Cottrell Propst, the state’s energy secretary, solicited input from eco-groups on the Energy Transition Act’s language before it was passed.

The kicker? Propst worked for one of the eco-groups – Interwest – as recently as a few months ago. She was having her former environmental group help write a bill they would benefit from. It’s insider politics at its worst.

“Officials with the organization Power the Future say the emails — recently obtained through a public records request — show the secretary was coordinating with several groups that included the same renewable energy firm she led before taking her job with the state,” said the Associated Press.

“It’s concerning. It looks like out-of-state environmental groups were major players in writing this bill,” said Larry Behrens, Power the Future’s western states director.

The eco-left knows that with President Trump in the White House and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez embarrassing them on a daily basis, they can’t get their way on the federal level. So they’re turning to states to try and get extreme eco policies passed on the state level.

Now that we know their tactics, we must remain vigilant and fight back.