Font ResizeSANTA FE - The Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday tabled legislation that critics said amounted to a "legislative veto" of a state-issued cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
The 7 to 4 vote, which fell along party lines, followed a more-than-hour-long debate that featured discussion about big-picture issues: the constitutional limits of legislative power; and whether, and how fast, the state was transitioning from the "old economy" of coal-fired plants to a "new economy" of solar arrays and wind-powered turbines.
The tabling of Senate Bill 191 by the committee's Democratic majority lacked the feel of finality, however. The debate was sure to continue, given the emotional battle that has accompanied the issue of climate change and what role, if any, New Mexico should play in that conversation, state lawmakers said.
"It's not going to end here," Sen. William Payne, R-Albuquerque, said, pointing to the standing-room-only crowd that turned out to hear Friday's debate.
The legislation, sponsored by Republican Sen. Carroll Leavell, would repeal a number of rules promulgated during the eight-year tenure of Democratic Ex-Gov. Bill Richardson. Most prominent among them was a rule set to go into effect in 2013 that would cap greenhouse gas emissions, which the state's Environmental Improvement Board created last year.
This being the Judiciary Committee, with at least four attorneys as members, Leavell's bill sparked a lawyerly debate over whether it was constitutional
The Environmental Improvement Board is an executive-branch agency.
For Sen. John Ryan, R-Albuquerque, the constitutional debate seemed academic. He said the Richardson administration effectively did an end-run around the Legislature by promulgating the rules through executive order after legislation meant to accomplish the same goal failed twice with state lawmakers.
"The Legislature has a right to express an opinion" on the rule, Ryan said. "I would hope there would not be a challenge on separation of powers because that will stretch this issue out even longer."
But Sen. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, predicted a legal challenge the minute the legislation was signed into law.
"If we were to move forward with this, we are going in a dangerous direction that will create a hearing before the Supreme Court that we will lose," Wirth said.
Bruce Frederick, staff attorney for the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, re-inforced Wirth's point Friday, telling state lawmakers that a challenge would be filed if the bill were to become law.
During Friday's meeting, business interests, from the New Mexico Chile Industry to the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, lined up in support of the bill while environmental organizations and advocates opposed it.
"We don't think it's a good idea to get ahead of the debate that we think should happen" in Washington, said Terri Cole of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. "The economy is getting worse. This is not the time to hurt industries."
But Joan Brown, a Franciscan nun, said the state's cap on greenhouse gas emissions was necessary as a response to an emergency that is determining "how our water is being affected, and how this is affecting people's health. This is a huge ethical and moral concern."
Contact Trip Jennings at (505) 986-3050 or at tjennings@ sfnewmexican.com.
