From the Albuquerque Journal
    SANTA FE— New Mexico's focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas industry sets it apart from other states in the battle against climate change, state and environment leaders said Thursday.
    "New Mexico is the first oil and gas state to really tackle this," said Theo Spencer, senior project manager for the Natural Resources Defense Council's climate center in New York.
    The oil and gas industry is the second-largest source of greenhouse gases in New Mexico after coal-fired power plants and followed by transportation.
    Gov. Bill Richardson on Thursday fleshed out the details of his plan to deal with climate change, a plan that calls for reducing carbon dioxide and methane emissions from oil and gas operations.
    He called the broad initiative, outlined in an executive order, "the most extensive statewide effort" in the nation.
    New Mexico faces the prospect of reduced snowpack, deeper droughts and other negative effects from global warming.
    In addition to tackling emissions from oil and gas production, Richardson's executive order calls for:
    Developing green building codes with provisions for things like solar water heaters and submitting them to the Construction Industries Commission. Half of the electricity used in New Mexico goes to heat, light and cool buildings, said Environment Secretary Ron Curry.
    Developing rules for truck stops to have places for truckers to plug in so they don't have to idle to heat and cool their cabs.
    Finding ways to capture carbon dioxide from power plants and trap it underground, something no other state has done.
       Asking the state Environmental Improvement Board to require new cars sold in New Mexico to have 30 percent better gas mileage by 2016, something 11 other states already have adopted.
    Turning the manure from 15 percent of the state's dairy cattle into energy by 2012 while also reducing methane emissions.
    Increasing no-till agricultural production to keep carbon in the soil and using a quarter of agricultural by-products like pecan tree trimmings to generate electricity or steam by 2012.
    The state has overall goals of cutting the state's greenhouse gas emissions to year 2000 levels by 2012 and 75 percent below 2000 levels by 2050.
    Following the advisory group recommendations could cut emissions in half by 2020, Richardson said.
    "We're going to implement these recommendations as rapidly and cost-effectively as possible," he said.