Southwest States Make Large Strides on Renewable Energy Targets

New Mexico and Nevada are poised to enact far-reaching changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

By Benjamin Storrow, E&E News on March 13, 2019

The Southwest became the center of U.S. climate action yesterday, as New Mexico lawmakers voted to decarbonize their state’s electric grid and Nevada’s governor announced his support for bills to expand renewable energy and enshrine carbon reduction targets in law.

The developments represented a striking shift for American climate efforts. Climate policy, long dominated at the state level by California and a handful of Northeastern states, had stagnated in Nevada and New Mexico until recently.

Now the pair of Southwestern states are poised to take far-reaching efforts to curb emissions, delivering climate hawks one of their most significant wins since President Trump took office two years ago.

“I think people should note these are states in the middle of the country, purple states, but they have incredible renewable resources. The previous political leadership ignored that potential,” said Noah Long, who leads the Natural Resources Defense Council’s climate and energy program in the interior West.

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