By now, the public is well aware of the “Green New Deal” proposed by freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. They have not responded well to calls for forced veganism and banning airplanes, let alone giving up the American way of life made possible by cheap energy.

But while Ocasio-Cortez has taken the brunt of the media focus, environmental groups have developed a new strategy to get their way: pass a type of “Green New Deal” state by state.

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It’s a smart tactic. They get friendly, left-leaning state legislators and governors, most of whom they financially backed in the past election, to do their dirty work. While the media is watching AOC marveling over garbage disposals and rejecting the racism of cauliflower, no one is reporting about bad laws taking shape in secret.

That’s exactly how radical green groups want it.

Their latest attempt was in New Mexico, and unfortunately, it succeeded. Newly-elected Democrat Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the “Energy Transition Act” in March. This law requires that New Mexico move to 100 percent carbon-free energy – the same long-term goal as the “Green New Deal.”

This destructive law is essentially a hidden carbon tax and will threaten the jobs of thousands of energy workers, raise utility rates, cut state revenue, and make green energy companies rich at the taxpayers’ expense.

Green groups have effectively rebranded “carbon tax” as “renewable energy mandates” and to get the same results: the end of fossil fuels. Force the elimination of low-cost energy sources and mandate high-cost renewables. Send the bill to customers. Say it’s “for the earth” and voilà, green energy companies get rich.

But no matter what you call it, it’s a tax, plain and simple. Economists agree. The University of Chicago, for example, recently released a report detailing how renewable mandates increase energy prices by 17 percent. The Heritage Foundation believes it might be even worse and could double electric bills on families.

It’s remarkable how such a transformative bill was signed into law so quickly without public input and the myriad impact studies green groups often demand and sue to ensure take place. How was that even possible?

Last week, an investigation by the Associated Press, with assistance from my organization, Power The Future, looked at internal New Mexico government emails around the drafting of their “Energy Transition Act.”

Some people will get very rich if the “Green New Deal” were to become law. We should all be curious who those people are. And which politicians they financially back.

What we found was disturbing. The emails revealed how the state’s energy secretary, Sarah Cottrell Propst, encouraged multiple eco-groups review the bill’s language as it was being written. In one instance, she allowed the group who employed her just months before, a renewable energy trade group called Interwest, to influence the bill.

Interwest makes money from renewable energy companies, the very companies now guaranteed to control the state’s energy industry by the bill they themselves wrote.

My organization believes green groups don’t care about the earth, the environment, or even climate change. They care about power. And that is the case in New Mexico. Under the guise of fighting “for the earth” they passed a law guaranteeing income for green energy companies.

Let’s see who these companies financially back in the next election cycle.

There’s nothing wrong with renewable energy, as long as it competes fairly on the free market. In the plotting between Gov. Grisham, Sec. Propst, Interwest, and radical green groups, no one cared about the people. New Mexico has large oil, gas and coal reserves and these industries employ thousands. The men and women whose jobs are now at risk were not invited to the table.

Nor were the citizens whose utility rates will inevitably skyrocket. Nor were the myriad schools, hospitals, and other civic groups whose funding comes from oil and gas tax revenue.

If politicians like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez get their way, it will be government bureaucrats and environmental activists – not the market, not the people – deciding energy policy.

Some people will get very rich if the “Green New Deal” were to become law. We should all be curious who those people are. And which politicians they financially back.

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Americans need to beware. What happened in New Mexico will happen in every state. Eco-groups prefer working in the shadows.

Fortunately, we are on to them. Their tactics are secret no more.

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