New Mexico Gov Martinez Violates State Constitution

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez — the first Latina governor of the U.S. — is breaking environmental laws in that state to protect her rich oil and gas donors, according to a report from Truthout.org.

According to a lawsuit filed against her by the New Energy Economy, an organization that works towards reducing carbon pollution and promoting clean energy, Martinez deliberately ordered that new environmental rules adopted by the state last year not be published in the New Mexico Register. In other words, Martinez doesn’t even want the public to read about these new rules — a violation of state law, according to the suit.

Interestingly, Martinez received huge donations from oil and gas big wigs during her run for the governorship last year, to the tune of $220,000. While this case was in court last month, Martinez showed up with a dairy lobbyist who represents people who donated to her campaign, too.

So, the short version is that this lawsuit alleges Martinez is selling out the state’s environment to cover for her political donors, who heavily funded her campaign. On January 26 the New Mexico Supreme Court found that Martinez did, indeed, violate state law when she prevented the rules from being published. She even used state money to hire three different law firms to represent her in court, is that what you call “fiscal conservatism”?

[Photo Courtesy Office of Gov. of NM]

Subscribe today!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Must Read