WELC’s strategy is simple: the oil and gas industry, as the second largest contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in New Mexico, must report and take aggressive action to reduce those emissions.  

With that strategy in mind, WELC attorney Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, representing an alliance of New Mexican social justice and environmental groups, presented compelling evidence to the state’s Environmental Improvement Board (EIB) in October detailing the impacts of global warming to New Mexico, the role of the oil and gas industry in contributing to global warming, and the myriad of common-sense, cost-effective ways industry could quantify and reduce GHG emissions.

The result: a pioneering rule requiring a host of industries – including power plants, oil refineries, and upstream oil and gas development operations – to report both major and minor source GHG emissions. Notably, the oil and gas industry largely opposed WELC’s effort, asserting increasingly stale arguments that the public should simply ‘trust’ industry and allow it to continue on business-as-usual trajectory. But industry’s arguments were rejected, in large part because of WELC’s evidence and the rise of government leaders deeply concerned about New Mexico’s long-term social, economic, and environmental well being in the face of global warming.

"Addressing GHG emissions from production of fossil fuels is absolutely essential to protection of our land, water and communities," explained Schlenker-Goodrich.  “Our work in New Mexico is setting the stage for the entire Rocky Mountain West to improve the transparency and accountability of the oil and gas industry to the citizens of this proud region. In that effort, we must never forget that this is about our future, our children’s future, and the future of our unparalleled wildlands.”