OPINION: Heinrich and Luján have no credibility on affordability 

The national average price for a gallon of gasoline is now lower than it has been in four years.

That matters, especially in New Mexico, where energy costs directly affect rural families, long commutes and household budgets already stretched thin by years of inflation.

It didn’t happen by accident.

Energy costs touch every part of daily life — from groceries and utilities to commuting and heating a home. There is still a long way to go to repair the damage done by years of inflation and reckless policy, but one truth remains clear: When energy costs fall, affordability improves.

That reality is exactly why the sudden wave of concern from New Mexico’s U.S. senators over affordability should be treated with deep skepticism.

Sen. Ben Ray Luján recently declared, “The Republican affordability crisis is emptying the bank accounts of New Mexicans. From food prices to health insurance premiums, Congress needs to be passing solutions that bring down costs.” Senator Martin Heinrich echoed the same sentiment, saying, “Trump and Republicans love to preach affordability, but when it comes time to actually deliver for families, they walk away every time.”

Those statements might sound compassionate, but they collapse under even minimal scrutiny.

Both senators have consistently supported the Green New Deal and related green energy mandates — policies that have one unavoidable outcome: higher costs for families. Their rhetoric on affordability isn’t leadership. It’s hypocrisy.

The Green New Deal is not some abstract concept or distant idea. It is a sweeping agenda that forces higher energy prices through government mandates — electric vehicle requirements, appliance bans, forced home retrofits and aggressive restrictions on reliable energy production. Independent analyses have estimated that Green New Deal-style policies would cost the average household over $70,000 dollars in the first year alone.

Anyone who supports policies with trillion-dollar price tags does not get to lecture New Mexicans about affordability.

Yet Heinrich and Luján continue to champion the very policies that drive costs higher. They celebrate climate targets and green spending packages while ignoring the costs those policies sent directly to New Mexico households.

The contradiction is impossible to miss. You cannot claim to care about grocery prices while backing energy policies that raise the cost of producing, transporting and refrigerating food. You cannot claim to care about health insurance premiums while supporting regulations that increase electricity costs for hospitals and clinics. And you cannot claim to care about working families while pushing mandates that require tens of thousands of dollars in forced purchases.

Affordability doesn’t come from speeches or press releases — it comes from policy choices. And the policy choices supported by New Mexico’s senators have consistently moved costs in the wrong direction.

The Green New Deal is not a climate plan; it is a cost-transfer scheme. It shifts massive expenses from government ambition onto family budgets. Whether through higher gasoline prices, soaring electricity bills, or mandatory upgrades families cannot afford, the result is always the same: less freedom, less affordability and more government control.

So when New Mexico’s senators suddenly pretend to care about affordability, families should ask a simple question: where were you when your policies made everything more expensive?

You cannot support the Green New Deal and credibly claim to stand for affordability. The two positions are mutually exclusive.

Show me a politician who says they care about affordability while backing the Green New Deal, and I’ll show you a liar.

Larry Behrens is an energy expert and the communications director for Power The Future. He has appeared on Fox News, Newsmax, and other national outlets defending American energy workers. You can follow him on X/Twitter @larrybehrens.