New Mexico's budget relies heavily on oil and gas revenue, but the state also bears the scars of generations of mining and drilling. So when Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, a former law professor and current Democratic state senator, heard about the movement to add “green amendments” to state constitutions, it seemed a promising tool to address climate change and other environmental pressures in New Mexico.
"It's a beautiful state, but it's environmentally fragile," Sedillo Lopez said. "We're a state with a lot of extractive industries, and unfortunately, we're overreliant on it. Because we're so overreliant, that industry just dominates. And so, I saw this as a way to push back to have a real clear statement."
Green amendments, which establish in state constitutions the fundamental right to clean air, water and soil and other environmental priorities — including a stable climate — are making slow but steady progress around the country. New Mexico is among 15 states where such measures have been considered this year, and although the green amendment didn’t advance out of a legislative committee, Sedillo Lopez said she’ll reintroduce it in the future.
