Court of Appeals rejects lawsuit targeting NM's oil and gas pollution enforcement
Jun. 3—SANTA FE — The state Court of Appeals on Tuesday dismissed a landmark lawsuit that could have halted oil and gas drilling in New Mexico, the nation's second-highest oil producing state.
While the ruling is expected to be appealed, it dealt a blow to plaintiffs who claimed the state's failure to enact strict pollution control measures had led to damaging health issues.
Those plaintiffs included Native American activists and several environmental groups who filed the lawsuit and lamented its dismissal.
"New Mexicans amended our constitution 50 years ago to protect our residents from pollution," said Gail Evans, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. "With this terrible ruling, the court has eviscerated our constitutionally protected rights."
She also predicted the Tuesday ruling would lead to more air pollution, more contaminated land and water, and more sickness in New Mexico communities.
"We'll continue our fight against the filthy oil and gas industry on behalf of all New Mexicans and will be appealing this decision to the state Supreme Court," Evans added.
The lawsuit was filed in state District Court in 2023, with plaintiffs attorneys at the time comparing the effort to a court challenge targeting New Mexico's public education system that led to a landmark 2018 ruling.
But a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals found a constitutional provision declaring the protection of the state's "beautiful and healthful environment" to be of fundamental public interest does not compel certain action by the legislative and executive branches.
"By its plain text, the (pollution control clause) contains no enforceable right, guaranteed to any individual or group, to be free from a given amount of pollution," Court of Appeals Judge Miles Hanisee wrote in his ruling. "Nor can it be inferred to create an enforceable right to a beautiful and healthful environment."
Missi Currier, the president and CEO of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, commended the court's ruling to dismiss the lawsuit.
"This decision affirms the importance of maintaining a clear, constitutional separation between policymaking and judicial interpretation," Currier said in a statement.
She also said the state's oil and gas industry is committed to responsible development, environmental stewardship and economic opportunity for state residents.
"We believe that meaningful progress on climate and energy must come from collaboration, innovation, and respect for the rule of law," Currier added.
Oil production has surged in New Mexico in recent years, driving state revenue collections to record-high levels. Oil and gas revenue make up about 35% of the state's $13.6 billion in projected revenue for the coming fiscal year, according to legislative data.
Specifically, New Mexico crude oil production more than doubled from March 2020 to March of this year, jumping from 34,873 barrels to 69,958 barrels.
But some New Mexicans say that production boom has come at a high cost, citing elevated methane emissions — even after enactment of a new state methane rule in 2021 — and health issues in the Permian Basin and Four Corners region, where much of the oil and natural gas activity is located.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeals' ruling comes less than a year after a state judge in Santa Fe allowed the case to move forward.
Attorneys for the state and top state officials, including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, had previously filed a motion in September 2023 seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds of separation of powers.
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