WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall vowed to fight President Trump's short-sighted executive order to rip apart U.S. efforts to fight climate change. Udall will be cosponsoring legislation to rescind the executive order, and signed a letter with Western Democratic senators emphasizing the importance of combating climate change and investing in renewable energy jobs. Udall released the following statement:
"With this executive order, President Trump is killing our country's best efforts to fight the urgent threat of climate change in order to benefit big polluters. He may deny that climate change is real, but the science is clear, and New Mexico and the Southwest are in the bull's eye when it comes to the devastating effects of global warming. Rising temperatures, more frequent droughts, and increasingly severe wildfires are jeopardizing our water supply, economy and health. New Mexicans of all backgrounds understand that climate change poses a grave threat to our way of life, and that we need to take action.
"This short-sighted executive order also seeks to undermine our work to limit the waste of publicly owned natural gas resources and reduce the methane hotspot hanging over the Four Corners region. Leaking and inefficient oil and gas wells on federal land waste enough natural gas to power a city the size of Chicago every year. Not only does this mean taxpayers are losing out on tens of millions of dollars in royalties each year, but the methane produced is a powerful greenhouse gas, and the associated smog poses a clear public health threat. While President Trump says this order is about ending job-killing regulations, there's simply no evidence that rules to limit natural gas waste hurt job growth. In fact, these rules create good jobs in an emerging waste mitigation industry, while helping states pay for schools, law enforcement and other services.
"President Trump is wrong: today's order won't create new demand for coal and oil - it will just flatline U.S. efforts to do our fair share to stop global warming. The claims by President Trump and other Republicans that Obama-era pollution control rules hurt energy production and jobs are also false. According to data from the Energy Information Administration, domestic oil production went up by over 70 percent, natural gas production by over 30 percent, and utility scale renewable electricity by 60 percent during the course of the Obama administration.
"With this executive order and his proposal to slash federal funding for clean energy, President Trump is missing a huge investment opportunity and handing the competitive advantage to China and other countries. Nationwide, the demand for clean energy is up, and global market signals show the future is in renewables. That's one reason New Mexico has become a leader in the clean energy economy, creating thousands of new, good-paying jobs in wind, solar, and other alternative energy arenas. I will fight this executive order and work for smart policies to combat global warming and allow New Mexico and the United States to lead in the global clean energy economy."
