Santa Fe, NM –  The New Mexico legislature rejected the Clean Fuels Standard Act Thursday morning, which would have set up a market for factory farm gas, among other dirty fuels,  similar to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The California credit system allows factory farms like mega-dairies to sell the equivalent of fracked gas to be used as fuel for vehicles. New Mexico’s bill would have allowed factory farm gas to count towards the state’s “clean fuels” goal. The only farms capable of producing as much manure as is necessary to generate factory farm gas are massive in scale and a major source of greenhouse gas in New Mexico as well as the rest of the U.S. The average New Mexico mega-dairy confines more than 3,000 cows. This represents some of the largest herds in the country.

“New Mexico needs real climate solutions and not scams that only truly benefit the factory farming and fossil fuel industries,” said Food & Water Watch Southern Region Director Jorge Aguilar. “We’re hopeful that any future attempts to address the legitimate problems with emissions in transportation will protect communities from the factory farm expansion that would undoubtedly follow any clean fuel standard that allows biogas. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico legislature must pursue real solutions that slash methane emissions and protect communities from the pollution of industrial agriculture.”

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Contact: Jessica Gable, (202) 683-2478, [email protected]