City may not meet next climate action goal

The City of Las Cruces may not meet its next check-in goal for its climate action plan that calls for cutting greenhouse gases across sectors by a 73% decrease by 2050 from its 2018 emission levels.

But Jenny Hernandez, the city’s sustainability officer, said there are no consequences for not meeting goal.

In 2020, the City of Las Cruces adopted a climate action plan. The city checks in every few years on whether it is meeting its longer-term greenhouse gas emissions goal and, while it was on target in 2023, Hernandez said the city may not meet the next check-in goal, in part, due to population growth.

“Overall, I think that for the next inventory we are expected to not meet or be on track to meeting our goals,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez also said that the plan is split between the community and the municipality. The municipality is on track to reduce emissions with the city cutting 22% of its emissions. The community was on track in 2023 but is lagging behind as it has only cut 2.4% of emissions since the 2023 update. To stay on track, the community needs to cut emissions by 3% every year.

The largest cause of greenhouse emissions comes from the transportation sector. To accomplish the goal of reducing greenhouse gases, the city plans to use more renewable sources of energy for city buildings, offer bikeshare programs, and offer incentives to go all electric for home builders.

The city also hopes to get more people to switch to electric vehicles through “incentives, outreach, and education.” From 2018 to 2023, the number of electric vehicle registrations rose from 114 to 956 in Las Cruces.

Another way the city is trying to reduce gas-powered cars is through a shared EV program, that is set to begin this fall, where drivers may rent an EV-powered car for $5 an hour or $50 per day, plus tax.

Anyone over the age of 21 with a valid driver’s license and clean driving record would be able to rent the EV cars.

Building codes

One common concern that has been voiced is that there will be no gas stoves allowed in city limits. Much like the infrastructure for an EV charger, the new building codes say that infrastructure has to exist in a new home so people can switch from gas to electric later on.

“It is certainly not something that we would just go in and say ‘okay, great, now we are taking everyone’s natural gas,’” Hernandez said. “I will say that, actually, natural gas based on stove usage is the smallest percent of residential use of natural gas.”

Hernandez said that while a lot of policies are incentive based, some things are now required by building codes to help meet the climate action goal when it comes to residential buildings.

“We tried to create building codes that incentivized builders to build all new construction to be electric ready,” Hernandez said. “This means that they just have all of the things in a home that would make it easier if someone wanted to transition to all electric.”

One example that Hernandez listed is that all new construction must be put in infrastructure to have charging for an electric vehicle in case the buyer wants to install one later.

Hernandez continued by saying that these new codes combined with tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act have helped to make more all-electric homes in the city.

“That really sparked something in some of the new homes that are being built out in Red Hawk that are all electric.” Hernandez said.

Hernandez explained that some barriers can also be avoided by going all electric like not having to get natural gas permits and the tax credits that are available can help with some costs of building.

However, not all people view this the same way. President and CEO of New Mexico Properties Steve Montanez said that this can still add costs to the home buyer.

“They want a home that if it has gas in it, it would also have just the electric option,” Montanez explained. “Some people see that as something as simple as putting an outlet in the wall behind the stove but that can actually cost up to $8,000 just to give that option that the user may or may not use.”

However, Montanez said that that this has not affected how fast homes are being built yet.

“We have not really seen too much of a slowdown in new construction and that really has to do with the housing shortage that we are in overall so its going to take a lot longer to see how the market is responding,” Montanez said.

The City of Las Cruces is hoping to reduce greenhouse gases by 19% by 2030.