NM: Industry questions board's authority over emissions

New Mexico utilities and energy producers think the state Legislature and the federal government should address greenhouse-gas emissions, not the state's Environmental Improvement Board. Industry representatives Monday opposed a petition that asks the board to create a statewide cap on greenhouse-gas emissions from sources such as the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants and oil or natural-gas production. They think the state board might not have the legal authority to regulate the gases that scientists link to climate change and global warming. The board has scheduled a hearing April 6 to consider arguments about its authority to regulate emissions. Pending results of that hearing, the board set an Aug. 3 date to consider the request for a statewide cap. Anyone in the state can petition the board to change regulations. The petition was filed by a 4-year-old nonprofit, New Energy Economy, headed by physician Dr. John Fogarty. The petition asks the Environmental Improvement Board to regulate global-warming pollution and set a cap to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions levels by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, similar to a recommendation from an international group of scientists, Fogarty said....