New Mexico’s Senate passes clean fuel standard

Thanks to your help, New Mexico’s Senate passed a clean fuel standard, bringing it one step closer to becoming law. Here’s the latest.

Yesterday, New Mexico’s Senate passed the Clean Fuel Standard Act (SB 11), which would require fuel producers and importers of transportation fuels used in New Mexico to reduce carbon in the fuels by 10% by 2030 and 28% by 2040, or to purchase carbon credits.

If implemented,the bill would drive significant job growth in New Mexico and $47 million in carbon-reduction investments, as well as widespread environmental and health benefits. 

Learn more about the NM Clean Fuel Standard Act. 

The next steps: The measure now heads to the House for further consideration. The bill continues to be a top priority for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D).

Gene’s Genius: The passage of a clean fuel standard in New Mexico will have a profound impact on igniting the green economy in the nation’s third-largest oil-producing state. Not only will New Mexico’s clean fuel standard help to reduce emissions, it will provide new revenue streams for farmers to sell their crops and animal waste for fuel and will incentivize sustainable agriculture. And the increasing support for a clean fuel standard from the private sector is further proof that policies supporting sustainable fuels are also good for business. BIO and the New Mexico Clean Fuels Coalition look forward to working with state lawmakers to implement the clean fuel standard and begin decarbonizing the state’s transportation sector. – Gene Harrington, BIO’s Director of State Government Affairs

More Agriculture and Environment News: 

NPR: Author Walter Isaacson on the gene editing revolution
The author of a new book about biochemist Jennifer Doudna discusses “mRNA vaccines, how gene editing works, and some of the moral questions that these developments raise.”

Clocks in the U.S. will “spring forward” on Sunday—and the coronavirus vaccine clock is ticking ahead, too, according to USA Today’s latest survey of experts.

There’s been a lot of good news this week.Exactly one year after the pandemic began, we’re seeing major progress in the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines—including the EU’s authorization of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and Novavax’s news that their vaccine is effective against the original strain and the UK and South Africa variants.

So, if the start of the pandemic is midnight, and a return to normal is noon, what time is it today? It’s 11:15 AM—45 minutes from the finish line, according to USA Today’s coronavirus vaccine clock. 

But what, exactly, does the finish line look like? Responses varied—“from a level of outbreak no worse than the flu to no new cases at all.”

Even if it’s safe to have barbecues with family and friends on the Fourth of July,as President Biden said it might be, we should expect “small fires in the form of sporadic cases of COVID-19,” and we need to tackle the economy, continue to develop therapeutics and vaccine supply chains, and get kids vaccinated and back to school. 

What does Dr. Michelle say? While scientists and researchers have made incredible progress, “hurdles still exist, as the president is well aware,” BIO’s Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath told USA Today. “We must continue to work together, follow the science, and get as many shots in arms as possible.”

More Health Care News: 

Axios: COVID-19 brings a new dawn for messenger RNA vaccines
“The blockbuster success of messenger RNA vaccines in the COVID-19 pandemic could give a boost to efforts to use the technology to tackle cancers, malaria, and other intractable illnesses.”

President Biden’s Friday: Meeting virtually with counterparts from Australia, India, and Japan, then delivering remarks on the COVID-19 relief package from the Rose Garden at 2:30 PM ET before heading to Delaware.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: It was a busy week—enjoy the weekend.