New Mexico business leaders, Republican figureheads, the oil industry, and workers in the state were quick to voice their opposition to the executive order, saying it would destroy the state's economy. Some told The Epoch Times the move would force workers to relocate to states such as Texas, while others worried the freeze would become permanent.
Half of New Mexico's oil and gas production is on federal land and amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties each year.
"It's going to force us to buy more oil from nations that support terrorism," Steve Pearce, chairman of the New Mexico Republican Party, told The Epoch Times. "And it's going to hurt New Mexico's economy, which has already been devastated by the governor's response to COVID."
Under Biden's actions, roughly 50,000 jobs could be lost in the state, with potential losses of $3.5 billion, as most of the state's core production comes from federal lands, said Pearce, who warned America would face "tremendous shortages."