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New Mexico’s biannual, 60-day lawmaking session ended after two breakneck final weeks with the Democratic-majority, volunteer legislators working right up to the noon deadline. In the end, it was another legislative session that confirmed business as usual for the state’s oil and gas industry.

As of Feb. 18, legislators had submitted 878 bills for debate. Of those, 19 bills deal directly with oil and gas production in the state. Essentially all other bills are affected indirectly by the industry that provides nearly a third of New Mexico’s annual — and once again record-breaking — operating budget. In an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature, that makes for some unusual bedfellows.

New Mexico legislators have so far proposed 19 bills this session that could directly — and at times dramatically — change how the oil and gas industry operates in the state.

Since 2020 the state has allowed oil and gas producers to temporarily stop running pumps because the pandemic economy was particularly bad for business. But despite the rebound in oil prices, there are still more than 1,000 wells sitting idle.

The Environmental Protection Agency kicked off a series of public hearings Tuesday, Nov. 30, on its proposed rule to reduce methane from oil and gas operations. New Mexico is the second largest producer of oil in the nation, but also a leader in curbing air pollution from the industry. Local advocates called on the EPA to follow the state’s lead and strengthen the proposal.

Earthquake activity has increased dramatically in southern New Mexico likely due to injection wells in the Permian Basin. These are used to store…