Gary Johnson talks New Mexico politics, industry during campaign for Senate

Adrian Hedden | Carlsbad Current-Argus

Former New Mexico governor, presidential candidate and current Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate Gary Johnson wants to make big changes on the national level, while continuing to embrace the economic boom created by private industries in the state.

He’s running for the seat held by Democrat Martin Heinrich, also contested by Republican Mick Rich.

Johnson said if elected he would hope to be added to the Senate’s budget committee to attempt to balance the budget, cut taxes and spending.

More: Pearce's campaign for governor shaped by focus on government reform, improving business

He said he’d also advocate for abolishing the federal Department of Education, which Johnson said does not give Americans a return on the investment made by paying taxes.

But what does work for New Mexicans, he said, is continuing to embrace policy supportive of economic growth in the extraction and energy industries.

He said industry-driven solutions could protect the environment while allowing the industry – and subsequently, the economy – to thrive.

More: Senate candidate Mick Rich criticizes opponent Martin Heinrich, 'D.C. politicians'

“To say anything or to think anything negative about the oil and gas industry, that’s the hand that feeds,” Johnson said. “I think from an environmental standpoint it was about common sense rules and regulations that were implemented.

“It was done as a partnership as opposed to having an adversarial role. I am not an adversary to anyone in the oil and gas industry. I like to think I am as environmentally conscious as anyone.”

Statements from President Donald Trump and other federal officials about bringing back coal, Johnson said, are impossible without federal subsidies.

He said he’s opposed to all government subsidies.

“The only way (Trump) can bring back coal is by subsidizing it. I’m against all subsidy,” Johnson said. “There are no new coal plants on the books. Natural gas is that much less money. The only way coal can compete in the future, is with subsidy. Why would we want that? We the consumers have spoken.”

More: Primary election in Eddy County: second lowest voter turnout in state

Instead, Johnson said natural gas could hold the country’s and New Mexico’s energy future.

“The free market killed coal, because we don’t want coal,” he said. “The free market bankrupted coal, and it’s because of natural gas. Natural gas is a cheaper power plant to build. And it’s because of fracking that we have all of what we have now.”

Besides hydraulic fracturing, to which many experts credit the recent oil boom, Johnson said new technology is soon to emerge that reveal even more deep underground oil shales, without using resources such as water or sand.

More: Carlsbad residents, oil and gas officials seek solutions to extraction fears

“There are fracking technologies out there that are very exciting,” he said. “They don’t involve water, they don’t involve sand, they don’t involve injection.

“Radio waves, sound waves. It’s on the horizon. It’s coming. The first individuals that are going to embrace these technologies is the oil and gas industry.”

As governor and a long-time resident of New Mexico, Johnson said he’s witnessed the dramatic booms and busts created by an ever-changing extraction industry.

New Mexico could weather these fluctuations, he said, by diversifying the economy and putting more people back to work.

“It’s boom and bust. I get it. It’s permanent, but there is a peak to this,” he said. “With the initial surge with fracking, we saw the decline. We got down to sub-$30 a barrel.”

If and when oil prices take another dip – Johnson said it was as low at $10 per barrel when he was governor – New Mexicans must be encouraged to work.

He suggested cuts to Medicaid, while instituting an “Uber everything” philosophy for workers.

More: Rural communities could be at risk during oil and gas boom, debate over air quality ensues

Based on the popular ride sharing service “Uber everything” cuts out what Johnson referred to as “the middleman.”

“Diversify the economy by empowering you as the person providing the goods and services that you provide,” he said “If you can provide your goods and services to the end user and you can make more money that’s a model that works.”

Aside from extraction, southeast New Mexico began to emerge as major player also in the nuclear industry.

More: Attorney general: New Mexico has little say in Holtec proposal

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant opened in 1999 near Carlsbad to dispose of transuranic (TRU) waste about 2,000 feet underground, while URENCO opened its National Enrichment Facility in 2010 to enrich uranium near Eunice.

Earlier this year, Holtec International’s permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was accepted, and the licensing process for the facility for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel near Hobbs is ongoing.

Johnson said the Holtec project could solve a national problem of storing the spent fuel near generator sites, costing taxpayers billions in utilities and lawsuits as the Department of Energy has yet to take ownership of the waste, as was required by federal law.

More: Who is Holtec? International company touts experience in nuclear storage

“If we use nuclear power, you pay a surcharge for taking care of the spent fuel,” he said. “There’s 170 pools of water right now next to the reactors nationwide. That’s how we’re dealing with it currently. There’s a multi-billion-dollar pot to deal with this issue. No one’s dealt with the issue. I think it’s a bird’s nest on the ground.”

The project, which was met with heavy opposition from in-and-out-of-state activist groups could prove a solution to the nation’s nuclear waste problem, he said.

“It’s the best solution to a huge national issue,” Johnsons said. “If it’s above-ground retrievable storage, having that above ground makes a lot of sense. You’re not burying it in Yucca Mountain, and its monitored.

“This is addressing a nationwide issue. It’s for real. If New Mexico can achieve being able to do this, more power to New Mexico.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.