I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The state Supreme Court has set a date to hear a lawsuit from an environmental group that says Gov. Susana Martinez doesn’t have the right to halt publication of regulations passed by the Environmental Improvement Board. The New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC) also announced it would sue Martinez on a dairy regulation that Martinez halted.
The Supreme Court announced it would hear NMELC’s suit on Jan. 26. The suit is about a rule that would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 3 percent annually, a rule which the EIB passed last year.
Martinez halted the publication of the regulation in the state Register, which New Energy Economy (NEE) said is illegal, prompting NMELC to file suit last week on NEE’s behalf. The Martinez camp disagreed that temporarily halting the publication breaks a law that states the regulations must be published “in a timely manner.”
NMELC also announced it would be suing over a dairy rule which was also passed by the Environmental Improvement Board last year. Martinez also prevented the publication of this rule when she became governor at the beginning of the year.
NMELC is asking for a writ of mandamus which would force the Martinez administration to publish the regulations in the state Register.
“The Governor and her staff cannot disregard the law,” said Jonathan Block, NMELC Staff Attorney, in a statement. “When the Board adopts a rule and files it with the State Records Center, the law requires the rule to be published in the State Register. That’s how regulations become enforceable law. The Governor cannot circumvent the law or expand her powers by executive order.”
