SB14 offers tax incentives to fuel producers to encourage lower-carbon fuel production and requires fuel producers to meet certain requirements and emission caps intended to reduce air pollution from the transportation sector, which is also known as a top greenhouse gas producer alongside fossil fuels. This also bill authorizes spending of $650,000 to create a Climate Change Bureau and requires vehicles to meet a minimum 20% reduction in carbon intensity by 2030 and 30% by 2040.
The New Mexico State Senate passed SB14 on February 2, 2022 by a vote of 25 to 16. We have assigned pluses to the nays because it would lead to significant increases in fuel prices, creates more government interference in the free market and advances the Marxist climate change agenda. Businesses should have the freedom to conduct business without the government meddling in their affairs. The Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” and government interference in entrepreneurship and private business is in violation of that belief.