State commission chooses ideology over common sense

Las Cruces Sun-News (NM){PUBLICATION2}
June 22, 2011
Section: Opinion
Article ID: 18325001
Our View: State commission chooses ideology over common sense

When New Mexico voters elected Susana Martinez as governor, it seemed a certainty that many of the environmental protections and reforms passed during the eight years of the Bill Richardson administration would be rolled back or eliminated. One of the first things Martinez did after taking office was form a task force of business leaders to suggest ways the state could make things easier for them. Not surprisingly, some of those suggestions deal with environmental rules and regulations passed under Richardson.

All of which is perfectly acceptable. Richardson listened to those advocating for one point of view; Martinez is well within her rights to listen to those with a different viewpoint. And, we think some of the reforms passed under Richardson — especially those hurried through during in the lame-duck portion of his administration — probably should be reconsidered.

But, the decision earlier this month by the state Construction Industries Commission to eliminate energy-efficiency changes that had been made to the state building code in 2010 takes the rollback effort much too far and represents a victory of ideology over common sense. Simply put, there is no good argument to be made for less-energy-efficient buildings.

In a press release announcing the changes, the state Regulation and Licensing Department goes into full spin mode in declaring that they "adopted new energy conservation standards that meet federal guidelines outlined in the 2009 International Energy Conservation Codes."
That's kind of like saying you traded in your fresh-off-the-showroom-floor car for a new 2009 model. And, complying with the minimal federal standards set in 2009 to qualify for stimulus funds is nothing to gloat about.

Proponents of the rollback argue that the changes made under Richardson were passed improperly, amended without authorization and implemented poorly. What they don't argue is that the rollback and resulting decrease in energy-efficient buildings will be a net gain for the state of New Mexico. They don't, because they can't.

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