Santa Fe, NM — NM Senate Republican Leader Bill Sharer today sent a letter to Lee Zeldin, the Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to request that this federal agency take steps to prevent fuel prices across New Mexico from rising as a result of the planned implementation of the state's recently-enacted clean fuels initiative.
"Without the EPA's intervention, New Mexico families will soon see their gasoline costs rise by as much as $0.20 per gallon," observed Senator Sharer. "As we all suspected, it appears that progressives in our state are far more committed to their extreme climate objectives than to truly protecting 'affordability' for taxpayers across New Mexico."
New Mexico's Clean Transportation Fuel Standard, enacted over Republican objections in 2024, mandates a 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and a 30% reduction by 2040. These arbitrary reductions are certain to increase costs on fuel suppliers—and ultimately on consumers.
Fortunately, as Senator Sharer's letter points out, the EPA has the authority under both the federal Clean Air Act and Administrative Procedure Act to issue a finding that "state low-carbon fuel standard programs are not necessary to meet national ambient air quality standards." Such a finding would preempt most of these state-level mandates, including the one in New Mexico.
In his conclusion, Senator Sharer thanked Administrator Zeldin "for the work you and your agency are doing to help keep energy affordable for American families."
