New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham used her Democratic National Convention speech Wednesday night to urge the investment in clean energy jobs to avoid what she labeled as “the environmental annihilation” by the Trump administration.
But one GOP leader in her state criticized the Governor and Democrats, suggesting their energy plan would devastate New Mexico’s oil and gas industry.
Delivering her speech from a solar array in New Mexico, Lujan Grisham talked about the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back climate agreements and environmental protections at a time when Democratic voters are becoming increasingly concerned about the coming tidal wave of climate change reported the Santa Fe New Mexican.
In the parched Southwest, where the oil and gas industry props up much of New Mexico’s budget, climate change is an especially hot-button issue. But that didn’t curb strong words from Lujan Grisham, whose speech aired before addresses from vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama.
Lujan Grisham was on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s shortlist for vice president before he tapped Harris, a senator from California.
Lujan Grisham touted Biden’s plans to rejoin the Paris climate agreement after Trump pulled out of the global accord.
“We know time is running out to save our planet,” Lujan Grisham said. “We have the chance this November to end two existential crises: the Trump presidency and the environmental annihilation he represents.
“We have the chance this November to attack the climate crisis, invest in green 21st-century jobs, and embrace the clean-energy revolution our country — our young people — are crying out for and the leadership the rest of the world is waiting for,” she continued. “The choice is clear. The choice is Joe Biden.”
According to plugged-in Democrats both nationally and locally, Lujan Grisham is still being considered for a spot in Biden’s Cabinet — if he were to win the election — as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Lujan Grisham has gained praise for her handling of the COVID-19 crisis in New Mexico, a state where the virus’s transmission rate is astoundingly low compared to surrounding Western states such as Arizona, Texas, Utah and Nevada.
Her recent prominence shows she’s a rising star in the national Democratic Party, political analysts say.
“The parties do use their conventions to identify up-and-coming talent — Lujan Grisham certainly qualifies, given that she also was in the mix to be the vice presidential nominee,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of the nonpartisan political newsletter Sabato’s Crystal Ball for the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “She is also young enough [60] that she might be able to run for president in 2024 or 2028, although I doubt she would start the race as a favorite.”
Lonna Atkeson, a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico, said the governor is playing a key role for the Democratic Party as a means of boosting Latino voter turnout. Lujan Grisham touted the importance of Latino voter outreach in an interview with the Washington Post on Wednesday.
“They’re trying to highlight all of your groups in the leadership roles, so they want to make sure … Latino [voters] are front and center,” Atkeson said. “So I think that’s an important lineup for descriptive representation. I also think it says something about her current position within the Democratic Party, and she is on the shortlist for something in the administration.”
During her brief speech, Lujan Grisham stressed New Mexico’s efforts to hold polluters accountable. The Democratic governor touted the state’s push to create clean jobs after lawmakers passed the Energy Transition Act in 2019, which laid out an aggressive renewable energy standard: 100 percent carbon-free electricity production by 2045.
The state also is in the process of finalizing methane rules that Lujan Grisham’s administration has called aggressive but environmentalists have said contain glaring loopholes that would undermine the goal of reducing the potent greenhouse gas.
After the speech, New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce blasted the governor for stressing clean energy in a state where 40 percent of the government’s budget comes from the oil and gas industry. He called Lujan Grisham’s failure to mention that “a little insulting.”
“The Energy Transition Act is going to devastate the oil and gas industry, and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have both said they’d ban fracking,” Pearce said.
Republicans, including Pearce, have repeatedly claimed Biden intends to ban hydraulic fracturing, although the Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact has called that claim mostly false.
Biden said he would like to ban new fracking on federal land and waters — not eliminate the practice outright, PolitiFact reported.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham took center stage Wednesday at the top of a lineup of party heavy hitters on the third night of the Democratic National Convention, stressing the need to invest in clean energy jobs to avert “the environmental annihilation” posed by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Delivering her speech from a solar array in New Mexico, Lujan Grisham talked about the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back climate agreements and environmental protections at a time when Democratic voters are becoming increasingly concerned about the coming tidal wave of climate change.
In the parched Southwest, where the oil and gas industry props up much of New Mexico’s budget, climate change is an especially hot-button issue. But that didn’t curb strong words from Lujan Grisham, whose speech aired before addresses from vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama.
Lujan Grisham was on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s shortlist for vice president before he tapped Harris, a senator from California.
Lujan Grisham touted Biden’s plans to rejoin the Paris climate agreement after Trump pulled out of the global accord.
“We know time is running out to save our planet,” Lujan Grisham said. “We have the chance this November to end two existential crises: the Trump presidency and the environmental annihilation he represents.
“We have the chance this November to attack the climate crisis, invest in green 21st-century jobs, and embrace the clean-energy revolution our country — our young people — are crying out for and the leadership the rest of the world is waiting for,” she continued. “The choice is clear. The choice is Joe Biden.”
According to plugged-in Democrats both nationally and locally, Lujan Grisham is still being considered for a spot in Biden’s Cabinet — if he were to win the election — as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Lujan Grisham has gained praise for her handling of the COVID-19 crisis in New Mexico, a state where the virus’s transmission rate is astoundingly low compared to surrounding Western states such as Arizona, Texas, Utah and Nevada.
Her recent prominence shows she’s a rising star in the national Democratic Party, political analysts say.
“The parties do use their conventions to identify up-and-coming talent — Lujan Grisham certainly qualifies, given that she also was in the mix to be the vice presidential nominee,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of the nonpartisan political newsletter Sabato’s Crystal Ball for the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “She is also young enough [60] that she might be able to run for president in 2024 or 2028, although I doubt she would start the race as a favorite.”
Lonna Atkeson, a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico, said the governor is playing a key role for the Democratic Party as a means of boosting Latino voter turnout. Lujan Grisham touted the importance of Latino voter outreach in an interview with the Washington Post on Wednesday.
“They’re trying to highlight all of your groups in the leadership roles, so they want to make sure … Latino [voters] are front and center,” Atkeson said. “So I think that’s an important lineup for descriptive representation. I also think it says something about her current position within the Democratic Party, and she is on the shortlist for something in the administration.”
During her brief speech, Lujan Grisham stressed New Mexico’s efforts to hold polluters accountable. The Democratic governor touted the state’s push to create clean jobs after lawmakers passed the Energy Transition Act in 2019, which laid out an aggressive renewable energy standard: 100 percent carbon-free electricity production by 2045.
The state also is in the process of finalizing methane rules that Lujan Grisham’s administration has called aggressive but environmentalists have said contain glaring loopholes that would undermine the goal of reducing the potent greenhouse gas.
After the speech, New Mexico Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce blasted the governor for stressing clean energy in a state where 40 percent of the government’s budget comes from the oil and gas industry. He called Lujan Grisham’s failure to mention that “a little insulting.”
“The Energy Transition Act is going to devastate the oil and gas industry, and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have both said they’d ban fracking,” Pearce said.
Republicans, including Pearce, have repeatedly claimed Biden intends to ban hydraulic fracturing, although the Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact has called that claim mostly false.
Biden said he would like to ban new fracking on federal land and waters — not eliminate the practice outright, PolitiFact reported.
Source: Santa Fe New Mexican