Democratic state Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez of Albuquerque has pre-filed a legislative proposal for a temporary ban on the issuance of hydraulic fracking permits until 2024. She is proposing the temporary ban as a pause on oil and gas production while state agencies study the impacts of fracking and recommend new regulations. The likelihood of the proposal making it onto the docket for this legislative session is very slim as 30 day sessions are primarily focused on budgetary issues and agenda items approved by the Governor. 

Even Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, who proposed the bill, is realistic about it’s ability to move through the legislation. Sedillo Lopez said she hopes the legislation will generate public discussion on the effects of fracking on the environment. “I think it’s really important for the state to take a breather and to look it,” Sedillo Lopez said Tuesday.

Those opposed to the bill have correctly stated that a ban on oil and gas production via fracking would strangle the Permian Basin region’s and state economic growth and shudder schools which are largely funded by oil and gas revenue. Read more HERE.