press releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Udall, the lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representative Ben Ray Luján announced that they included a provision in the end-of-year appropriations bill that encourages the...

CARLSBAD -- Among many policies and provisions in the 2016 spending "Omnibus" bill in Congress is a policy that would lift the ban on exporting oil, according to a news release and national reports. Lifting the ban on exporting oil would repeal restrictions on exports of products such as coal, petroleum products and natural gas. This would...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, announced that an extension of wind and solar energy tax credits and the reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund are included in the deal reached by Democratic and Republican negotiators to lift the ban on...

For far too long, Indian Country has been left to fend for itself in dealing with the legacy of hardrock mining. Too many tribal communities, including many on the Navajo Nation, live among abandoned mining and milling sites that contaminate their water, air, and food. In August, a large plume of bright orange toxic waste spilled from the abandoned...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) participated in a forum on the future of energy delivery entitled Energy Across America: A Policy Discussion on Microgrid Technology hosted by The Hill. During the forum, Heinrich highlighted on the importance of energy storage, modernizing our electric grid, and the clean energy...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Thursday, December 3 at 8:30 a.m. ET, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) will participate in a forum on the future of energy delivery hosted by The Hill at The Newseum in Washington, D.C. Editor in Chief Bob Cusack will moderate the discussion entitled, Energy Across America: A Policy Discussion on Microgrid Technology. The...

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 6, 2015) - U.S. Sentor Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) released the following statement after President Obama announced the United States will reject the Keystone Pipeline: "Approving this foreign tar sands project would have meant doubling down on one of the world's dirtiest energy sources. The President made the right call....

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, participated in a forum last night hosted by The Atlantic on the future of energy in America. Washington Editor-at-Large Steve Clemons moderated the conversation at The Watergate in Washington, D.C. with Senator Heinrich, Siemens...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Tuesday, November 3, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, will be a guest speaker at an event hosted by The Atlantic. The event is part of a series called "Atlantic Exchanges" that offer insights and perspectives from leading voices of energy,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representative Ben Ray Luján responded to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Technical Evaluation of the Gold King Mine Incident. The report found that responsibility for the mine blowout, which spilled 3 million gallons of wastewater into rivers in New Mexico...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing to confirm Victoria Marie Baecher Wassmer to be Under Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy and Cherry Ann Murray to be Director of the Office of Science at the Department of Energy, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) focused his questions to the nominees on...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, voted to pass the conference report for the fiscal year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. Senator Heinrich worked to secure key provisions for New Mexico's men and women in uniform, military installations, private industry,...

SHIPROCK, NM-- The Navajo Nation is still reeling from the Gold King Mine spill as the nation continues to recover from another decades-old mining operation. Uranium mining operations from the Cold War and all the way back to the 1940s are still being felt on the Navajo Nation. Friday, Senator Martin Heinrich toured some key sites. "We wanted to...

One of my earliest memories is visiting my father in the hospital after a high-voltage accident caused him to fall from an electrical transmission pole. That fall never dampened his enthusiasm for his work as a utility lineman, climbing up power poles in the middle of lightning storms to restore electricity after outages. My father’s days as...

Last month, a large plume of bright orange toxic waste spilled into the Animas and San Juan Rivers and polluted the Four Corners region. When I toured affected areas following the Gold King Mine spill, I visited with impacted residents and joined the San Juan County Fire Department to deliver water to farmers in Aztec. I was also briefed on the...

On Aug. 12, Santa Fe Community College hosted the 2015 Santa Fe Energy Summit. Federal, state, tribal and local public officials gathered to share ideas about the changing face of energy generation and New Mexico’s potentially pivotal role in determining the course of the United States’ energy future.  U.S. Department of Energy...

SANTA FE, N.M. - On Wednesday, August 12, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and the City of Santa Fe will host the 2015 Santa Fe Energy Summit at the Santa Fe Community College (SFCC). The event will bring together experts, business and tribal leaders, public officials, and decision makers to advance the clean energy economy in northern New...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) will deliver a floor speech today, Wednesday, August 5, at approximately 1:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. MT on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the long-term, comprehensive deal that will verifiably prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Senator Heinrich, a member...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Senate Climate Action Task Force, released the following statement today in support of the Obama Administration's final Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon pollution nationwide by an average of 30 percent over 2005 levels...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, secured key provisions for New Mexico in the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, a bipartisan energy package that cleared the committee by a vote of 18-4. Senator Heinrich successfully included in the package a bill he...