It is encouraging to read that Senator Martin Heinrich is taking the lead in negotiations with the Trump administration to fix what seems to be a very broken system allowing well-intentioned energy, broadband, water and other infrastructure projects to be delayed for years after they are funded.
Skye Devore
Skye Devore is the owner of Tractor Brewing and a former member of the Nob Hill Neighborhood Association board.
Several state legislators recently wrote about how federal review timelines are preventing local companies like Pajarito Powder in Albuquerque, and local workers working on projects needed to generate clean hydrogen from executing on federal projects we need. Rep. Meredith Dixon, for example, wrote about a big carbon capture project at New Mexico Tech that is ready to go, if the federal bureaucracy would set a permit deadline and live up to it.
They are right.
New Mexicans working in those industries need those jobs and the rest of us need the cleaner air, water and power that results. It’s maddening that even though these projects are debated and funded in Congress, they can still be held up for years or decades by endless permit reviews and court challenges.
A lot of New Mexicans don’t know that Senator Heinrich is the ranking member, or senior Democrat, on the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee where so many of these big projects impacting New Mexico and the West end up. While there is much to disagree about in Washington, it is important to seize the moment when the opportunity exists. A few months ago he said that he was restarting negotiations with the Trump administration over permitting reform, such as the SPEED Act or something similar. It would be a big deal for New Mexico if he can do it. Senator Heinrich is the right person in the right place to get this done for New Mexico. I’m proud that our senator is finding ways to get things done where agreement can be found.