New Mexico appeals court rejects lawsuit against oil and gas regulators

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico appeals court rejected a lawsuit alleging that the nation’s No. 2 oil-producing state failed to meet constitutional provisions for protecting against oil and gas industry pollution, in an opinion Tuesday. Environmental advocates vowed to appeal the matter to the state’s top court.

A panel of three judges on the New Mexico Court of Appeals found that it was beyond the judiciary’s authority to weigh whether the pollution controls are adequate, writing that they’ll defer to the Legislature to balance the benefits of environmental regulation with natural resources development.

The 2023 lawsuit from a coalition of environmental groups was the first to invoke the constitution’s pollution-control clause, a 1971 amendment requiring that New Mexico prevent the contamination of air, water and other natural resources.

“While plaintiffs correctly observe that, as the ”Land of Enchantment,’ the state’s beauty is central to our identity, we cannot ignore the long history of permitting oil and gas extraction within our borders,” the panel wrote, invoking the state motto. “If anything, the law, history, and tradition of our state demonstrates that resource extraction must be considered alongside, and must coexist with, pollution control legislation.”

Gail Evans, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity and lead counsel on the case, said Tuesday’s opinion would dismiss the case entirely if unchallenged and “displays a fundamental misunderstanding of our constitution and constitutional rights.” She said plaintiffs intent to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

“Fifty years ago, New Mexico voted to amend the constitution and to provide protections from industry pollution and the court has found today that the amendment — the pollution control clause — is essentially meaningless, and that has to be wrong,” Evans said.

The court challenge comes as New Mexico’s state government rides a wave of record income from development in the Permian Basin, one of the world’s most productive, oil-producing regions.

Oil-related revenue collections underwrite a considerable amount of the state’s budget, including public education.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration is policing the industry with regulations that target methane and other emissions. But the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups say these efforts are not enough and that the state is failing to enforce existing pollution-control measures.

Attorneys for the Democratic-led Legislature and environmental regulators said the lawsuit threatened their constitutional authority.

Appeals Judge Katherine Wray issued an additional concurring opinion, expressing further limitations of the pollution control clause.