Earlier this year, a Democrat-sponsored bill to impose low-carbon fuel standards stalled in the state House of Representatives after winning Senate’s endorsement on a party-line vote with Republicans in opposition.
The regulations typically quantify the environmental impacts fuels or blends — such as oil, ethanol or hydrogen — from their extraction or manufacturing process through its end use.
The New Mexico Environment Department is crafting its own rules aimed at reducing direct greenhouse gas emissions from oilfield equipment and prevent the release of methane, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides.