State Supremes Rebuke NM Gov. Attempt To Unilaterally Suspend Clean Air & Water Laws - NYT

[hatrack]

The New Mexico Supreme Court’s rebuke to Susana Martinez, the state’s new governor was blunt. “No one is above the law,” the state’s chief justice, Charles W. Daniels, said Wednesday morning as he announced the high court’s decision to reinstate two environmental regulations that the governor had unilaterally blocked upon taking office earlier this month.

In a unanimous decision, the court ordered that the rules — one requiring annual 3 percent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and another aimed at controlling waste discharges from the state’s dairies — must be published in the state’s register, which will make them effective. Governor Martinez had forbidden the register from publishing the rules. Justice Daniels said that universal compliance with the law was essential, or “there will be a wasteland with no law.” The judge’s words were confirmed by two lawyers who attended the hearing.

The dairy industry had opposed a rule by the New Mexico Water Quality Commission requiring that all manure lagoons incorporate a synthetic liner as a barrier separating the nitrogen-rich manure from the ground to keep contaminants from leaching into the groundwater. Officials of the state’s environment department have estimated that two-thirds of such ponds have contaminated groundwater beneath them.

EDIT

Governor Martinez has said that she does not believe that science has clearly established a link between climate change and human activity.

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http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/new-mexico-high-court-reverses-governor-on-environmental-rules/?partner=rss&emc=rss

[Nihil]

1. Governor Martinez is just concerned ...

> a rule by the New Mexico Water Quality Commission requiring that all manure lagoons
> incorporate a synthetic liner as a barrier separating the nitrogen-rich manure from
> the ground to keep contaminants from leaching

... that the governor's residence might be affected by this regulation ...