Proud to be New Mexican: Now show some respect (NM Dems hate conservative SE NM)

NMO&GA/Santa Fe New Mexican ^ | April 3, 2026 | Missi Courier

[CedarDave]

Published in the April 3 edition of the Santa Fe New Mexican. Below text from NMOGA website

I grew up in Carlsbad. I went away for college, but I came back as quickly as I could. Coming home was always the goal, and I’m proud to be back. I love this state. I love its people, its landscape and its stubborn independence. The oil and gas industry I represent is made up of people just like me: New Mexicans who were born here, who raised families here, who chose to build their lives and livelihoods here.

So, I’ll confess that reading about Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows entertaining the idea of expanding Texas by annexing some New Mexico counties contiguous with the states’ border was surprising. On one hand, I’ll take the compliment. When the speaker of the Texas House looks at southeastern New Mexico counties and says he’d “gladly welcome” them, what he’s really saying is that what we have here is extraordinary.

The Permian Basin is one of the most productive energy regions on the planet. Not to mention the rich agricultural land, dairies and military bases in the region. The work being done in southeastern New Mexico — by New Mexicans, on New Mexican land under New Mexican regulations — matters enormously not just for our state, but for our nation’s energy independence and beyond.

So, thank you, Speaker Burrows, for recognizing the people, strength and potential of rural New Mexico.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Speaker Javier Martínez both acknowledged the importance of southeastern New Mexico by summarily dismissing Speaker Burrows’ idea. I also appreciate their acknowledgments of the importance of rural New Mexico. The truth is, southeastern New Mexico is not a consolation prize — it is an extraordinary asset, and it belongs to all New Mexicans.

But here’s what I can’t stop thinking about: Why does it take a Texas politician to make a grab for our region to generate this kind of acknowledgment?

The communities of southeastern New Mexico have been sounding this alarm for years — not because they want to leave New Mexico, but because they feel unseen by many in Santa Fe. For years, southeastern New Mexico legislators have filed a similar bill calling for seccession. The bills have not moved in the Roundhouse, but they still make a point that acknowledgment and even appreciation would be welcomed and deserved.

Lea and Eddy counties generate more than half of New Mexico’s general fund revenues, and they receive very little recognition for it. When those communities feel that frustration, we should listen — not dismiss it as partisan posturing.

The oil and gas industry is proud to be here. So are the thousands of New Mexicans who live and work in those counties. Because the industry is here, New Mexico does remarkable things.

This industry funds 49% of state revenue — including $2.4 billion a year for our public schools. Oil and gas production has allowed for billions in long-term investments, funds college and career technical institutions and scholarships, and universal childcare — programs that will change the lives of working families across New Mexico for generations. The industry supports infrastructure improvements, keeps hospitals and schools staffed and allows for state services running in communities throughout the state that often feel left behind.

Oil and gas companies are cutting methane emissions in the Permian Basin while continuing to produce the energy the state and the nation depend on — balancing the economy and the environment.

What we are asking for is something simpler than a change to our statehood: A policy environment that reflects that we are valued partners in New Mexico’s future, not an industry to be managed into obsolescence.

Because here’s the thing about other states noticing what we have: They’re not just noticing energy dominance and economic potential. They’re noticing the regulatory uncertainty. When regulations shift unpredictably, when permits get tied up indefinitely, when the message from policymakers is ambivalent at best, other states are watching and even welcoming.

We don’t want to be in that conversation. We want to be in New Mexico, producing energy responsibly, funding our schools and so much more, employing our neighbors and supporting additional energy systems. That’s the future we’re investing in. That’s the New Mexico we believe in.

I am proud to be a New Mexican, and I know many from southeastern New Mexico who feel the same. The oil and gas industry is proud to operate here. The rest of the country is taking notice of what this region contributes.

We hope New Mexico will do the same.

Missi Currier is the president and CEO of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association.

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; History; Local News; Society
KEYWORDS: commies; democrats; domesticenemies; eddycounty; energy; leacounty; naturalgas; newmexico; oil; opinion; potashmining; santafesocialists; texas

[CedarDave]

Santa Fe and Albuquerque Dem legislators control NM government. Most are climate zealots who believe that fossil fuel production is inherently evil and each year bills are introduced to further constrain O&G drilling and production. HOWEVER, they love the money the industry provides to fund their green energy programs and much of everything else. That is because there is little else in the way of non-governmental income to the state. Tourism and cannabis sales can't make up the difference and business regulation and tax policies do not provide fertile ground for private sector investment.

[CedarDave]

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[Morgana]

I thought of you recently CD when I traveled through New Mexico on Amtrak’s Super Chief. Beautiful country.

[DIRTYSECRET]

Worth nothing without a congressional seat going with it. That’s 700k people.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Wow, we have this secession problem all the time in Maryland. I have a (radical) pal in Western MD who’s part of a movement to secede and join WV. Eastern Shore doesn’t have as many options but they’ve also threatened for decades.

[rktman]

As do NV via Vegas and Reno. Even with an “R” gov they control both houses. Scary stuff. SE NM is not like abq and sf. Which is good.

[CedarDave]

Thank you. I've traveled many times east and west from ABQ on that train. Traveling north (east) from Albuquerque along the tree-lined Rio Grande and through the many Native-American pueblos is like going back a century. Climbing ever upward from there past Lamy and over Glorieta Pass is a treat. In early fall the color is spectacular (Yellow/purple flowers, yellow/orange aspens and green pines). Then though Las Vegas and onto the northeast NM plains - wildlife is frequent. Finally you travel past Raton and through the Raton Pass tunnel into Colorado; it all makes for an enjoyable journey.

The latter part of the eastern NM route is traveled only by Amtrak, no freight trains, and its history goes back to the 1880's. Going west from ABQ is an entirely different story - you join and share the BNSF Transcon route with 45+ long freight trains each way each day.

[CedarDave]

Worth nothing without a congressional seat going with it. That’s 700k people.

The not-so dirty secret is that we had a Pub representative in NM-2 until 2021 when the NM Dems (who control all state government) gerrymandered the very conservative parts of Hobbs and Roswell into NM-1 (Albuquerque) and NM-3 which are Dem seats. Now, here in northern Lea county beside the Texas border, I share my Dem congressional representative with northern New Mexico residents along the southern Colorado border and the Navajo Indians along the northeastern Arizona border.

[Verginius Rufus]

In 1951 my parents were driving through New Mexico with a brand-new Studebaker just purchased in another state, on their way to their new home in California, and going through Tucumcari were forced to buy New Mexico license plates. I suppose maybe they just had temporary tags on the car. Probably the official was a Democrat.

Many years later I drove through Tucumcari and was not made to buy New Mexico license plates. But I had an old car with valid license plates.

[DIRTYSECRET]

It is what it is. I was in NM when Heather Wilson won-’98. I was so happy. Held the seat for 10 years. Ok, so she was part of the rino Main Street Partnership. She was very good for what we asked of her. Couda’ been another Susan Collins in the senate. I would be just as happy. So now whadda we got?

[router]

All of this belongs to Texas

[TheThirdRuffian]

The oil and gas industry is treated with utter contempt in Sante Fe.

It’s so bad you can tell where my ranch crosses into Texas (one part of which spans NM towards Seminole TX).

How? The pump jacks are all idle on the NM side. It’s not worth the trouble.

There’s literally wells running down the TX/NM line. I’m the lessor on both sides.

[dontBSme]

“did”

not

“does”

[DesertRhino]

It would be wonderful, but it will never happen. Both state legislatures would need to approve and also Congress. Congress wouldn’t care much if both states agreed. Texas would agree. But there is no chance in hell NM would let go of the oil and gas cash cow.

But we can hope.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I was born in NE New Mexico and lived in Gladstone-Farley-Clayton as a youth, then Farmington NM and later Roswell-Hope-Tatum and Carlsbad.
Back then NM had great jobs and great schools! Now the jobs are gone thanks to the”greenies” and the schools are the worst in the nation, below Arkan-saw and Mississippi!
Sad to see what has happened to my birth state.
https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico/study-ranks-new-mexico-as-state-with-the-worst-school-system/

[Bikkuri]

I had family in Hobbs and Seminole..

[CedarDave]

If you haven’t lived in Hobbs for 10 to 15 years, you wouldn’t recognize it. The north Navajo Road bypass from Dal Paso to the Lovington Highway has most all businesses now including major chain hotels. North Grimes approaching Navajo has new shops all the way. north to Del Norte Park. The two south corners at Millen and the Lovington Highway are occupied by a new Hospital and the CORE recreational center, and the Lea County Event Center on the NW corner is ungoing a $59 million dollar renovation.

Then there are the three new elementary schools (two replaced outdated buildings) and two new middle schools currently under construction. The high school built an entirely new campus for vocational trade learning that was dedicated by Mike Rowe a couple of years ago. New homes are under construction on the east, north and west sides of the city. Amazon has a brand new distribution center north of the old hospital (soon to be torn down) and FedEx is completing expansion of their ship center. There are now daily flights to Houston and Denver and flights to Dallas Love Field too. All of this is supported mostly by O&G activity and the uranium recycling facility in Eunice. Lea County alone produces over a million barrels per day of crude oil helping New Mexico remain as #2 in domestic production. And this growth is what Santa Fe loves to hate because both industries are viewed as not-environmentally friendly and they prefer windmills and solar panels for electrical generation.

[CedarDave]

I need to get a copy of that map!

[Bikkuri]

Lol.. naw, it’s been over 40 years since I’ve been there.
My grandfather passed away (he owned a boot shop there, and had been making boots since WWII). My grandmother had passed away a few years before him.
Great aunts and uncles in Seminole, and great grandparents in Tatum.

I doubt any of them are still around...

[Bikkuri]

BTW, I used to go to the baseball fields (East Hobbs?) (when visiting my granddad, he lived right down the street from the fields) to go scoping for nice looking chicks, lol.

Back then, it was on the very outskirts of Hobbs.. was still mostly pasture.