Vasquez to balance oil and gas and the environment in bid for Congress
Oil and gas was a key issue during the race for New Mexico’s Second Congressional District, which covers the rural southeast region of the state containing the Permian Basin oilfields – the most active fossil fuel region in New Mexico and the U.S.
Republican incumbent Rep. Yvette Herrell, a staunch supporter of the oil and gas industry, introduced legislation and argued since taking office in 2020 to restrict government regulation of fossil fuel production.
But her opponent Democrat former Las Cruces City Councilor Gabe Vasquez said he believed a balance could be struck between oil and gas’ economic benefit to the state and government controls on its environmental impact.
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Vasquez won the Democratic Party’s nomination in the June primary election, defeating Lovington physician Darshan Patel, and will run against Herrell in the November midterm election.
A pragmatic approach to regulating oil and gas would ensure the state can continue to benefit from its role as a national energy leader, second in the U.S. in crude oil production, Vasquez said, while also leading the way toward a transition to lower carbon energy sources like wind and solar.
He said industries like hospitality and housing are also support by oil and gas, and that when the market booms and more people are brought into rural areas where fossil fuels are extracted, that means more jobs in a variety of other sectors.
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“I think the oil and gas industry is incredibly important to New Mexico. It’s incredibly important to this district, and I think it supports an economy that’s not only based on fossil fuel extraction, but it’s also based on the small businesses that support this industry.”
Herrell, who was recently appointed ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Environment within the House Oversight Committee said government should get out of the way of industry like oil and gas, which she said could devise methods of reducing environmental impact on its own without restrictive government policy.
“We’re doing great things and great innovation in America,” she said. “That’s why it’s difficult to see our government, to me its deliberate, is slowing things down. It’s going to complicate things. We’re not thinking clear. Some of these policies are taking us backwards, not forwards.”
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She said the U.S. must pursue “energy independence” and not rely on foreign sources of fossil fuels which she said were developed with less attention to environmental impacts than in U.S., pointing to recent goals announced by major oil companies to reduce their emissions.
“We all take for granted the fossil fuel industry, the products that come out of that space,” Herrell said. “Let’s get our energy from where its cleaner and better for the environment. We’re not ready to go all green.”
If he defeats Herrell in November, Vasquez said his focus would be “on the oil and gas workers,”…
Read More: Vasquez to balance oil and gas and the environment in bid for Congress