February 19, 2026
As federal safeguards are erased, coalition highlights broad business and agricultural support for long-term climate planning#
SANTA FE, N.M. — As the 2026 legislative session concludes, the Clear Horizons coalition is reflecting on a sustained multi-year statewide effort to center climate policy in a conversation about affordability, economic stability, and long-term planning for New Mexico families and businesses.
While the Clear Horizons Act (SB18) did not reach final passage, the coalition’s work reshaped the debate. False claims fell apart as the reality of rising insurance premiums, drought-driven agricultural losses, skyrocketing disaster recovery costs, water scarcity, and grid instability drove the debate around the need for predictability and a framework to keep businesses investing with confidence, and communities resilient in the face of extreme weather.
At the same time, the Trump administration’s move to rescind the EPA’s Endangerment Finding – the scientific and legal basis for regulating climate pollution – adopts climate denial as official U.S. policy. With the erasure of national protections, the responsibility for long-term planning increasingly rests with states.
“New Mexicans are already paying the price of climate inaction from allergies and mosquitos to fires, floods, and drought,” said Camilla Feibelman, director of the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter and Clear Horizons coalition coordinator. “As the federal government guts every proactive attempt to reduce greenhouse gases that would save families money now and their livelihoods later, state leadership becomes paramount. The costs are here now and planning ahead is how we protect our communities.”
Advocates also noted that recent federal rollbacks highlight the limits of executive-only climate action.
“Seeing the federal rollback of the Endangerment Finding is a stark reminder of what’s at stake in New Mexico,” said Lucas Herndon, policy director at ProgressNow New Mexico. “The Governor’s 2019 executive orders have helped reduce emissions, but executive action alone is not permanent. Without durable legislation, New Mexico remains vulnerable to political shifts and escalating climate costs.”
During 2025 interim hearings, lawmakers heard more than $4 billion in climate-related costs – from wildfire recovery to infrastructure damage and lost revenues – underscoring that these expenses are already landing on New Mexico families and communities. The data makes clear that the cost of inaction is far higher than the cost of planning ahead.
Across sectors, the message throughout the session was consistent: durable climate policy is not about ideology. It is about economic stability, fiscal responsibility, and protecting New Mexicans from rising costs and health harms.
New Mexico has built a national reputation for forward-looking energy policy. Continuing that leadership requires long-term frameworks that provide transparency, accountability, and economic stability
Voices from the Session#
Throughout committee hearings and floor debate, New Mexicans and legislators shared firsthand accounts of what climate risk means on the ground. Across sectors, the message was consistent: planning ahead protects affordability.
Senator Angel Charley in her opening remarks of SB18’s Senate floor debate:
”I want to ground this in what our rural communities are already experiencing. Across rural communities, there’s less snow feeding the acequias that farmers and ranchers depend on. Water runs shorter and arrives later. Crops scorch under longer stretches of heat. Hunters are seeing less elk move slower in search of food and water. Families talk about the fewer rabbits that they remember than just a decade ago. This is not environmental rhetoric. This is economic pressure. This is cultural erosion happening in real time.”
Don Schreiber, Devil’s Spring Ranch, Rio Arriba County:
“For the first time in 26 years, when our neighboring stockmen returned this November, they found that not enough grass had grown over the summer to sustain their herds… This is not a sustainable business model. The effects of our changing climate are no longer something in our future, we are hotter than ever, drier than ever right now… There is no grass for grazing and no ranching business can sustain that. That is our reality. SB18 recognizes our reality. It does not ask ranchers like me and my neighbors to add costs to our operations.”
Randy Sadewic, Positive Energy Solar:
“From lived experience, as clean energy deployment increases, costs fall, efficiency rises, and local jobs grow–making renewable energy the lowest-cost, least-risk path for New Mexico’s future. Planning ahead for this protects jobs, strengthens our grid, and creates the certainty we need to invest. ”
Edie Dillman, B.Public Prefab:
“The idea that climate planning hurts business is simply not true. Stability and predictability are what allow companies like mine to grow.”
Nick Streit, Owner, Taos Fly Shop:
“When wildfire smoke or drought hits, rural economies feel it immediately. Protecting clean air and healthy watersheds isn’t political – it’s about survival for communities like ours.”
Broad Support Across Industries and Communities#
This session’s effort brought together a growing, diverse coalition.
- Health professionals warned of rising asthma attacks and heat-related illness.
- Tribal advocates emphasized water protection and intergenerational responsibility.
- Ranchers and farmers spoke about de-stocking herds and shrinking water supplies.
- Small businesses and clean energy employers underscored the importance of investment certainty and market stability.
- Family economic security organizations connected climate impacts directly to household affordability.
- Climate advocates helped connect the dots, showing how all of these experiences are part of the same larger problem.
More than 14,000 New Mexicans now work in clean energy, a sector growing faster than the broader state economy. Employers testified that long-term policy clarity reduces volatility, attracts capital, and strengthens grid reliability.
Progress This Session#
The coalition also acknowledges important climate and resilience investments advanced during the 2026 session, including:
- $22.5 million to implement the Lower Rio Grande water settlement.
- $50 million to the State Forestry Department for the Wildfire Prepared Fund and funding for critical upgrades to the Santa Fe office.
- $70 million to the Office of the Natural Resource Trustee for land creation, expansion, or restoration projects, including up to $21 million in state matching funds for federal assistance due to natural disasters.
- $25 million to the Environment Department for industrial decarbonization grants.
- $10 million to the Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department for geothermal project grants and extended the deadline to spend the $10 million geothermal grant from the 2025 budget to FY27.
- $20 million to the NM Match Fund.
- $1.5 million to the Public Regulation Commission to administer the Community Solar Program.
- $10 million to the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance for the New Mexico fair access to insurance requirements program.
These steps reflect growing bipartisan recognition that climate impacts are already straining state budgets and local economies.
The coalition also expressed appreciation for the leadership of Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart, Senator Angel Charley, Representative Kristina Ortez, and Representative Andrea Romero.
“The sponsors showed real leadership this session,” said Berenice Estrada, political director at The Semilla Project. “They kept the focus on what New Mexicans are experiencing right now – rising costs, water stress, and economic uncertainty. That kind of long-term thinking reflects our values as a state.”
A Shift in the Conversation#
Throughout the session, the coalition consistently reframed climate policy as fiscal policy and a reflection of New Mexicans’ values. Recent statewide polling shows that a strong majority – 77% – of New Mexicans support government action to reduce climate pollution, underscoring that the Clear Horizons Act aligns with voter priorities across the state.
This session followed a familiar pattern. When climate legislation advances, fossil fuel interests respond with significant ad spending designed to amplify short-term cost fears. Yet despite that effort, the bill advanced to the Senate floor and the conversation did not stay there. Lawmakers and communities increasingly focused on the real and rising costs of inaction, underscoring that long-term planning is essential to economic stability.
The debate centered on:
- Home insurance getting more expensive and harder to find
- Whether farms and ranches can stay in business
- Whether there will be enough water for families and agriculture
- Keeping the lights on during extreme heat and high demand
- Taxpayer dollars going to disaster cleanup instead of schools and services
- How New Mexico can foster innovation to build long-term resilience and economic opportunity
Even without final passage, the link between pollution, rising costs, and economic stability is now firmly part of New Mexico’s legislative conversation.
Looking Ahead#
New Mexican families and communities are already experiencing prolonged drought, extreme heat, increased wildfire risk, water scarcity, and rising infrastructure demands from energy-intensive industries. At the same time, federal climate oversight is becoming less predictable.
The need for durable, state-level planning has not diminished. It has intensified.
As the session closes, the Clear Horizons Coalition reaffirmed its commitment to advancing practical, economically grounded climate solutions that protect families, strengthen businesses, and safeguard the land and water that define New Mexico.
Climate resilience is economic resilience.
Planning ahead is fiscal responsibility.
And New Mexicans deserve stability they can count on.#
Media Contacts:#
- James Quirk | WRA | 908.902.3177 | james.quirk@westernresources.org
- Camilla Feibelman | Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club | camilla.feibelman@sierraclub.org
- Itzayana Banda | The Semilla Project | itzayana@semillastrategies.org
- Lucas Herndon | ProgressNow NM | lucas@progressnownm.org
- Jim Ekstrand | NM Interfaith Power and Light | jim.ekstrand@yahoo.com
