
Clean car rules remain, despite another attempt to block
Feb. 13—SANTA FE — Another attempt to block a state mandate requiring an increased stock of electric vehicles delivered to New Mexico car dealerships has seemingly failed. The Senate Conservation Committee on Thursday tabled Senate Bill 139 on a 5-3 party-line vote.
The legislation, with both Democratic and Republican sponsors, would directly oppose clean car rules adopted in 2023 by Albuquerque and state environmental boards, similar to an appeal denied by the New Mexico Court of Appeals to block the rules. However, since the Senate Conservation Committee voted 5-3 to table the legislation, the effort has stalled.
Starting next year, the clean car rules require that 43% of all cars and light-duty trucks that manufacturers ship to auto dealerships in New Mexico must be zero-emission vehicles. Similarly, 15% of all commercial heavy-duty trucks shipped to dealerships must be zero-emission.
The percentages increase over time: 51% clean car deliveries by model year 2028, 59% clean car deliveries by model year 2029, 68% clean car deliveries by model year 2030, 76% clean car deliveries by model year 2031, and 82% clean car deliveries by model year 2032.
Bill proponents voiced concerns about a lack of charging stations in New Mexico and that rural residents, particularly those working in agriculture, are unable to use EVs to transport heavy tools or materials.
There is a stark disparity in charging infrastructure in rural areas compared to urban areas in New Mexico. Of the 326 charging station in the state as of November, 73% are concentrated in metropolitan areas, according to a legislative policy report from December. That leaves 27% of stations in rural areas, including 4% located on tribal lands.
While the New Mexico Department of Transportation plans to fill out infrastructure in the later years of its five-year interstate corridor buildout plan, according to the report, a federal administration seeking to block funding initiatives like EV chargers could complicate that.
The Federal Highway Administration in 2024 announced a $63.8 million grant to install charging centers in Hidalgo and Doña Ana counties. But earlier this month, the FHA announced it would suspend states' EV infrastructure rollout plans.
It's unclear if that money has been allocated or spent yet; the state's Department of Transportation didn't respond by time of publication to requests for information.
Meanwhile, Larry Behrens, spokesperson for Power the Future, said the FHA suspension of the federal EV charger funding program is long overdue.
"The reality is very simple: if electric vehicles, and their infrastructure, were in real demand, then taxpayers wouldn't need to spend billions to prop them up. ... Taking away public dollars from this program and letting New Mexicans decide what they want to drive is a great step toward fiscal sanity," he said.
And, New Mexico has fewer charging stations than the average of similar states and the nation. However, it also has better EV-to-charging station ratios at 46.6 EVs to one station, compared to the national average of 87.
Less than 1% of cars or other light-duty vehicles statewide are EVs, according to the report, though adoption has grown over the past decade.
Advocates for SB139 argued the mandates could force local car dealerships out of business if salespeople aren't able to sell the EVs they acquire. Plus, the rules don't bar people from purchasing gas vehicles out of state, said Senate Minority Whip Pat Woods, R-Broadview, the bill's sponsor.
That's why bill expert Ken Ortiz, with the New Mexico Automotive Dealers Association, said the rule does "nothing to clean up the air."
Transportation is the state's second-largest greenhouse gas emissions source, accounting for 14% of all greenhouse gas emissions, according to the legislative report. Transportation is the leading emitter of greenhouse gases nationwide.
The still-standing clean car rule is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 62%, nitrogen oxides by 43% and particulate matter by 24% from the transportation sector, according to the report.
There are other ways for the SB139 to resurface, like a by committee motion to reconsider or reintroduction through blank legislation known as "dummy bills," so it's not definitively the end of the line.
"This bill is not about electric vehicles. ... The bill is about government mandates, where the government is trying to tell New Mexicans what vehicles they should be driving," Woods said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Mining Industry Quarterly Review, Q4 2024 & Full Year - Top 18 Mining Companies Invest $69.1B in 2024; Forecasted Increase for 2025
"Mining Quarterly Review - Q4 2024 & Full Year" analyzes global mining trends, covering commodities, production, and capital expenditure. Indonesia achieved record coal outputs while boosting its nickel industry. Glencore led in coal production growth, driven by key acquisitions. Top miners spent $69.1B in 2024, with a 2025 rise forecasted. Key regions include Canada, Australia, South Africa, and the US. Dublin, June 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Mining Quarterly Review - Q4 2024 & Full Year" report has been added to offering. The report contains an overview of the key commodities in the mining industry including coal, iron ore, copper, gold, nickel, lead, zinc, uranium and lithium. It provides detailed information on prices, production by country, production by company, development projects update, capital expenditure, and demand "Mining Quarterly Review - Q4 2024 & Full Year" provides a comprehensive coverage on the global mining industry. It provides commodity trends covering price trends, production, capital expenditure of leading miners, development projects momentum, development projects by commodity, country, company and stage. The report also includes a demand drivers section providing information on factors that are affecting the global mining industry. It further provides updates on emissions, safety in mining, regulatory, developments in mining for Q4 2024 & Full Year, European Union's industrial production, US' industrial production, China's industrial production growth rate, China's Manufacturing PMI .While maintaining strong coal production, Indonesia is also navigating the global energy transition. This involves balancing coal output with the development of its nickel industry, crucial for EV batteries. Indonesia surpassed its 2024 coal production targets, reaching record highs to 836Mt, driven by both domestic and international demand. In Q4 2024, Glencore recorded the highest coal production growth, significantly outpacing its competitors. Yanzhou, Coal India and China Shenhua Energy also registered growth, though at a much smaller scale. Glencore experienced a significant increase in metallurgical coal production, rising by 18.9% compared to the same period in 2023. This substantial growth was primarily attributable to the acquisition of Canadian steelmaking operations, Elk Valley Resources (EVR), in July 2024. After 0.82% of projects in the development stages advanced in Q3 2024, the development projects momentum improved to 1.37% in Q4 2024. Some 37 projects advanced during this quarter, of which 16 were in Canada, Australia, South Africa and the US, 2024, the world's top 18 mining companies collectively invested over $69.1B in capital expenditures. Companies' projections for 2025 indicate a 5.1% increase to $72.7B for the same 18 to Buy To gain an understanding of the quarterly changes in the global mining industry, relevant driving factors To understand historical and forecast trends on key commodities To identify key players in the global mining industry To identify major development projects momentum by region To identify the trend in capital expenditure spent by leading miners To understand the factors influencing demand drivers of key commodities Key Topics Covered: Overview Macroeconomic trends Commodity trends Coal Iron ore Copper Gold Nickel Lead Zinc Uranium Lithium Development projects update Capital expenditure Demand drivers Appendix For more information about this report visit About is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. CONTACT: CONTACT: Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@ For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900Sign in to access your portfolio


USA Today
24 minutes ago
- USA Today
Former Biden press secretary is ready to tell Americans the truth? Give me a break.
Former Biden press secretary is ready to tell Americans the truth? Give me a break. | Opinion The knives are now out inside the Democratic Party. And the party is bleeding, not only Americans' support and trust but also its last remaining drops of honesty and truth. Show Caption Hide Caption Karine Jean-Pierre talks exit from Democratic party in new book Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre talks about leaving the Democratic party in her upcoming book slated for release in October. The Democratic Party continues to self-destruct, and I am here for it. Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has teased a tell-all memoir about former President Joe Biden and the administration she served for nearly three years. 'Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines' is stoking claims that Jean-Pierre is a grifter, profiting off her time in the administration by trashing the former president and the political party that gave her prominence. Knives are out among Democrats for one of their own who has now betrayed them. Like other books that have recently exposed details about Biden's poor health, Jean-Pierre's book raises questions about the White House cover-up that attempted to hide the president's mental and physical decline from voters. It also calls into question Jean-Pierre's honesty: Why did she wait until now, when she can profit from it, to tell the truth about the former commander in chief? Former White House colleagues turn on former Biden press secretary Democrats are now a minority party in America. The GOP controls the White House, the Senate and the U.S. House along with a majority of governor's offices and state legislatures. The Democratic Party has lost Americans' trust because of its leaders' penchant for gaslighting, not just about Biden's health but also on issues like immigration, border security and the economy. Jean-Pierre, who now claims to be an independent, certainly isn't helping her former colleagues rebuild that lost trust. Details from the book are still sketchy, but Jean-Pierre should provide readers with an inside look at what happened after Biden's disastrous debate with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump a year ago this month. Jean-Pierre's coworkers have already reacted to the book with contempt. "Former colleagues expressed confusion at how Jean-Pierre seemingly intends to paint Biden as a victim while pinning her own decision to leave the party on his 'broken' White House," Politico reported, citing multiple former Biden administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Opinion: Biden's cancer diagnosis raises the question: Was he ever in good enough health? Caitlin Legacki, a Democratic strategist who worked on the Commerce Department's communications team during Biden's presidency, took umbrage with Jean-Pierre's assertion that the Democratic Party betrayed Biden. 'Kamala Harris and the entire Biden/Harris campaign did hero's work to avoid losing 400 electoral votes and giving Republicans a supermajority in Congress, which is what would have happened if he stayed on the ticket,' Legacki told Politico. 'It's more productive to focus on that, and thank Biden for doing the responsible thing by stepping aside, than it is to pretend this was an unwarranted act of betrayal.' But party insiders continuing to squabble over whether a now former president was or was not betrayed by fellow Democrats entirely misses the larger point. Opinion: Guess who Americans want to run the economy? Hint − it's not Democrats. Far too many Democrats, Jean-Pierre included, worked hard to deceive Americans. Their willful lack of self-awareness about their gaslighting and dishonesty is why the party has shown no signs of recovering from the last disastrous election cycle. Karine Jean-Pierre's book about Biden isn't the first Jean-Pierre's book will be far from the first to address the deception at the heart of the Biden White House. On May 20, journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson released "Original Sin," which describes in detail Biden's cognitive decline and the mind-boggling efforts with which his inner circle and the Democratic Party tried to hide the truth from Americans. Opinion: Texas woman's death would have been prevented if Biden had secured the border Conservatives had long been suspicious about Biden's health, but journalists with White House access failed to ask tough questions then. Now that it's too late to make a real difference, those who were silent when it mattered most are more than ready to profit from belated exposés about the former president's failing health. The knives are now out inside the Democratic Party. And the party is bleeding, not only Americans' support and trust but also its last remaining drops of honesty and truth. Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.


Newsweek
39 minutes ago
- Newsweek
US States Seek To Ban Chinese Citizens From Buying Land, Property
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Some U.S. states are attempting to ban Chinese citizens from buying land and property, amid souring diplomatic relations between the countries. By 2024, more than two thirds of states had enacted or considered laws limiting or barring foreign land ownership including states that specifically mention China by name, according to POLITICO. According to the non-profit membership organization the Committee of 100, in total 27 states have considered this kind of legislation. However, the group has not shared a list of those states. Newsweek has rounded up a non-exhaustive list of states that have been involved in this kind of legislation, based on publicly available information. Some states do not name China explicitly, but name foreign nations that would likely include China. A number of US stakes have advanced legislation to ban some land sales by foreign nationals and so-called "foreign adversaries." A number of US stakes have advanced legislation to ban some land sales by foreign nationals and so-called "foreign adversaries." Flourish Why It Matters There has been a wave of concern over Chinese land purchases in the United States, some of which have taken place close to military bases. This comes amid soaring tensions between the U.S. and China including trade clashes between the two giants and national security concerns. However, as of USDA data accurate to 2023, Chinese investors own land in the U.S. equivalent to roughly twice the size of the footprint of New York City. What To Know A number of states have considered legislation on the issue. In May, the Texas legislature passed a bill to ban people tied to the governments of China, North Korea, Russia and Iran from purchasing land in the state. In January, Republican senators in Arkansas introduced the Not One More Inch or Acre Act which would prohibit any Chinese citizen, entity or foreign person acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from purchasing public or private real estate in the U.S. On Tuesday, Arizona's Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill to prevent the People's Republic of China from buying a 30 percent stake or more in land near military bases and other strategic assets. Meanwhile, Florida passed a bill to prohibit citizens from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria from owning agricultural land or property near military sites in 2023. Similar legislation has been passed in South Dakota, North Dakota, Indiana, Nebraska, Virginia, Utah, Iowa, West Virginia and Montana. Other states are considering legislation or bills regarding foreign nations' ability to purchase land including Ohio, Michigan and Georgia. What People Are Saying Speaking to Newsweek, Michael McFaul, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, said: "Not every Chinese citizen is an agent of the Communist Party of China. Many of China's most successful entrepreneurs, engineers, and academics—especially those living and working in the United States—loathe the Chinese Communist Party. U.S. government officials must develop more sophisticated policies for decreasing the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the United States that do not treat all Chinese citizens as enemies of America." Cole Hefner, a Texas Republican state representative, said of Texas' bill: "Senate Bill 17 will counter this threat and make Texas a leader in state security. We cannot, we will not, allow oppressive regimes who actively seek to do harm to cease control and dictate their terms over our economy, our supply chains, our daily lives, our critical infrastructure for our food supply." Advocacy group Asian Texans for Justice opposed the Texas bill, saying it revives "a shameful chapter in American history—when Asian immigrants were banned from owning land." What Happens Next Texas' bill will now go to the state's governor, who has indicated he will support it. The success of other bills as well as whether other states will advance legislation pertaining to the issue remains to be seen.