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Biden Administration should update antiquated oil and gas leasing and bonding rules
James Jimenez
While the extraction of oil and natural gas in New Mexico is mostly done on public lands, the state has less authority over the process than you might think. And while the industry puts a lot of money into our public schools, it could put a lot more money in if the state made the rules. Unfortunately, because much of the public land where drilling takes place here is actually federal land, we must rely on the federal government to set the rules.
New Mexico produces more oil from federal public lands than any other state, which is why the outdated federal oil and gas leasing program is so harmful to us. It has been roundly criticized by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Interior Department’s Inspector General, and countless external watchdogs for decades for its loopholes, failure to generate a fair return for taxpayers, and for contributing to climate change.