New Mexico GOP gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Dow calls for use of state's oil, gas resources

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New Mexico Republican gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Dow told Fox News that, if elected, she would promote American energy production, reverse "burdensome regulations" and ensure that the state's oil and gas resources are tapped to bring the United States back to energy independence.

In an interview with Fox News Thursday, Dow, who serves as a state representative in New Mexico, said the state has "some of the most prolific" formations in the world.

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"We have oil and natural gas in both northwest New Mexico and southeast New Mexico," Dow said. "All we’re missing is strong leadership that puts America first."

State Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences, speaks to staff before the start of the New Mexico Legislative session on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019, in Santa Fe, N.M. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)

"Just two years ago, the United States was energy independent, and that was largely in part due to the production in the Permian and Delaware basins," Dow told Fox News. "But Michelle Lujan Grisham, our current governor, has been nothing more than a Biden puppet." 

Dow criticized Grisham, saying she brought a "failing, radical, green agenda back to New Mexico" after serving in Congress as a progressive.

"Even during an energy crisis that we are facing right now in our state and in our nation — we are looking at rolling blackouts in an energy-rich state — she has appointed faceless bureaucrats to find ways to regulate the energy industry," Dow said.

Dow added that Grisham’s energy department is putting "even more burdensome regulations on oil and gas" and is "slow-walking leases and permits that are stopping us from producing."

"I would reverse all of that," Dow said.

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Americans are experiencing the highest gas prices since the 2008 financial crisis, with the national gas price average reaching more than $4 per gallon, the highest average to date, according to AAA.

The Biden administration and Democrats have blamed the surge in gas prices on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war on Ukraine.

Biden last week announced a ban on all imports of Russian oil, gas and energy to the United States, targeting the "main artery" of Russia's economy, but warned Americans that the ban would cost American families.

Russian oil exports account for about one-third of Europe’s oil imports, however, Russian exports are just under 10% of U.S. overall imports.

Biden has been facing criticism from Republicans, urging him to lift his executive orders that canceled the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada and froze new oil and gas leases on federal land.

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The White House last week said that the administration has "no plans" to restart construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

As for rising gas prices in the United States, Dow said it is "nothing more than supply and demand."

Pipes for the Keystone XL pipeline stacked in a yard near Oyen, Alberta, Canada, Jan. 26, 2021. (Jason Franson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"When you say no to the Keystone Pipeline, when you are shutting down production in our energy-producing states, we’re not reducing our use," Dow explained. "The green agenda is a false narrative that is unattainable.

"The inconvenient truth about going green is, it is expensive and it is anti-fossil fuels, but people are not reducing their use."

Dow, pointing to China, said Beijing is opening dozens of coal plants while the U.S. is working to shut them down.

"The idea that New Mexico — our population is around 2 million — somehow, we’re supposed to be responsible for reversing climate change?" Dow said. "At the expense of hundreds of thousands of jobs, opportunities for rolling blackouts this summer, with rising fuel costs when we are sitting on decades worth of oil and gas to meet New Mexico’s needs and to help America be energy independent."

Dow doubled down, saying despite enacting "green energy radical policies" across the nation, "demand remains the same."

"People are not reducing their use," she said. "What we need to do is promote American production of fossil fuels. That will create energy independence, and we will not be dependent on other nations.

"We have to have a consumer demand and free market principles — that means getting these burdensome regulations out of the way."

Dow said that New Mexico is "producing cleanly," noting that southeast New Mexico is "producing more oil and gas with less emissions than ever before."

"Technology and free market is pushing us towards cleaner energy every day," she said.

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Dow, if elected, vowed to veto "anti-energy bills" and said she would ensure her appointments for the energy department would be "pro-oil, pro-gas and pro-fossil fuels."

"If I were governor right now, I would be calling Biden and telling him to remove the ban on drilling on federal land," she said. "I’d be telling him to let the heroes in the oil and gas industry in New Mexico help to end our dependence on Russia and other nations for oil and gas We can fill the gap."

Biden, though, said it is "not true" that his administration is holding back domestic energy production, warning that gas prices will "go up further" from their current record levels, reiterating his support for government spending on renewable energy sources and criticizing the oil and gas industry for not taking full advantage of drilling opportunities in the U.S.

"Even amid the pandemic, companies in the United States pumped more oil during my first year in office than they did during my predecessor’s first year," Biden said last week. 

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"We're approaching record levels of oil and gas production in the United States, and we’re on track to set a record of oil production next," he said, adding that in the U.S. "90% of onshore oil production takes place on land that isn’t owned by the federal government.

"And the remaining 10% that occurs on federal land, the oil and gas industry has millions of acres leased – they have 9,000 permits to drill," he said. "Now, they could be drilling right now. Yesterday, last week, last year, they have 9,000 [permits] to drill onshore that are already approved.

"So let me be clear: they are not using them for production. That’s their decision. These are the facts. We should be honest about the facts." 

The White House also maintained that oil and gas companies have the "permits" needed, with press secretary Jen Psaki saying last week that she didn’t think "they needed an embroidered invitation to drill."

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"What is happening here is that we are seeing – these are private-sector companies, we recognize that many of them are making record profits. We see that that is all publicly available data," Psaki said. "They have pressure to return cash to investors and their shareholders.

"What we're saying right now is there is a war. We're asking them to go use the approved permits, use the unused space and go get more supply out of the ground in our own country."

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, New Mexico has "a wealth of fossil fuel, mineral and renewable energy resources," along with "a significant portion of the nation's known uranium reserves."

The state's crude oil, natural gas and coal production place it in America's top 10 energy-producing states. 

Dow is one in a crowded Republican primary field against Jay Block, Ethel Maharg, Mark Ronchetti, Louie Sanchez and Gregory Zanetti. The GOP primary is June 7.