New Mexicans have the opportunity to solve the growing problem of oil and gas infrastructure that needs to be closed and cleaned up as wells and facilities age and complete operations.
Clean-up is important for health and safety and is an opportunity for a source of good-paying jobs in the southeast and northwest parts of the state. Oftentimes, New Mexico taxpayers are left paying the clean-up bill so we need to change current laws and rules with incentives to close and clean up low or non-producing wells and prevent toxic chemicals like methane and benzene from polluting the air and seeping into groundwater. Currently, the oil and gas industry’s “insurance coverage” for clean-up doesn’t include enough funding to address the actual costs.
Community members, social justice advocates, and environmental organizations from across New Mexico are coming together to make these needed changes by filing a petition at the NM Oil Conservation Commission. The petition proposes to update how much “insurance coverage” the oil and gas industry must take out before drilling, creating new jobs, and protecting New Mexicans’ health, air, land, and water.
It’s critical that our decision-makers hear from New Mexicans like you that you want oil and gas operators to pay to clean up. And you’re not alone. Recent polling shows that an overwhelming 90% of New Mexicans support requiring oil and gas companies, rather than taxpayers, to pay for all of the clean-up and land restoration costs after drilling is finished. Join us and add your name to this petition that we’ll deliver to the Oil Conservation Commission.
Sign the petition
Featured image by SkyTruth via Flickr