Democratic congressional candidate Gabe Vasquez who is running in New Mexico’s oil-rich 2nd Congressional District deleted tweets condemning the fossil fuel industry.
Vasquez is running against incumbent Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell in a district that is located in the Permian Basin, the nation’s most productive oil and gas region. The New Mexico Democrat and former Las Cruces city councilor has deleted multiple tweets that attacked the fossil fuel industry for polluting the planet and contributing to climate change. (RELATED: Mark Kelly Claimed Biden Was ‘Wrong’ For Not Increasing Oil And Gas Production — He Voted To Kill Drilling Twice)
Vasquez posted a January 2021 tweet linking to an opinion article claiming that investing in oil and gas was “irresponsible” due to its effects on the environment. Vazquez called the fossil fuel industry “extremely toxic” in a November 2020 tweet which he has since deleted.
Pump jacks operate in the Permian Basin in near Jal, New Mexico on April 24, 2020. (Photo by PAUL RATJE/AFP via Getty Images)
Vasquez called his state’s oil and gas developments “extremely important” in August, according to the Carlsbad Current-Argus, a local outlet; at the same time, he aims to phase out “dirty and outdated energy sources” that are creating “unchecked pollution.” Combating climate change and investing in “clean energy” is one of Vasquez’s top priorities, according to his campaign website.
“It’s OK to oppose fracking, OK to support the Green New Deal,” Vasquez said in a deleted tweet he posted on Nov. 3, 2020.
The Democrats’ $370 billion climate spending package, which President Joe Biden signed into law in August, will spend billions on green energy and allow the Environmental Protection Agency to crack down on oil and gas companies’ methane emissions.
Herrell is currently favored to defeat Vasquez in November, according to FiveThirtyEight polling averages.
Vasquez’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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