Albuquerque-based utility company PNM this afternoon called for congressional passage of the Waxman-Markey climate change bill headed to Congress tomorrow.

PNM, the electric service provider for about 500,000 New Mexico customers, and its parent company, PNM Resources, are urging passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 that is expected to go before the U.S. House of Representatives Friday.

 

"This is the right thing to do for the environment, for our children and their children, and for our economy," said Jeff Sterba, chairman and CEO of PNM Resources.

 

Provisions in the legislation are consistent with the Blueprint for Legislative Action issued earlier this year by the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a national, broad-based coalition of businesses and environmental organizations that PNM Resources helped found in 2006.

 

The legislation strikes a balance between the need to address the pressing environmental problem of climate change while minimizing the cost to customers and businesses, according to Sterba.

 

"Addressing carbon emissions will not be free," Sterba said. "But this bill uses a market-based, cap-and-trade system to achieve the most significant reductions possible at the lowest possible cost. It allows businesses responsible for producing carbon to decide where to spend their money to comply with the law, and it allocates allowances to protect our customers. These features are key to keeping energy affordable for our customers and critical reasons why we can support the bill."

 

He added: "I particularly want to thank our Congressmen - Martin Heinrich, Ben Ray Lujan, and Harry Teague -- for their hard work in support of this legislation. We look forward to working with them and U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall throughout the legislative process to continue to improve the bill to ensure it protects the environment, jobs in New Mexico and our customers."

 

"We need to remember there is a cost to delaying action," Sterba said. Unaddressed, climate change and carbon emissions are expected to lead to more instability in water supplies through flooding and drought and increased risk to forests and agriculture. The bill before the House would reduce carbon emissions over decades; if no action is taken now and more drastic carbon reductions are needed in the future, the costs of doing so could be significantly more expensive, he said.