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New Mexico taxpayers will get less money for education, health care, infrastructure and other priorities from the recent sale of oil and gas leases on federal lands thanks to President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act."

Passed in 2025, the bill allowed the Trump administration to reset the royalty rate for new leases to a minimum of 12.5 percent, reversing the nearly 17 percent minimum set during the Biden era.

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Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, estimates taxpayers will lose millions of dollarsin future royalty revenues.

"We recognize in New Mexico that oil and gas is a necessary industry," Deubel acknowledged. "Unfortunately, New Mexico residents lost over $110 million in royalties from this sale alone."

The Bureau of Land Management typically holds lease sales quarterly. Last week it auctioned off 20,000 acres, primarily in Eddy and Lea Counties, which accounted for 83 percent of federal oil production and 98 percent of federal gas production in the state last year. The bureau also offered oil and gas leases for sale in Colorado last week, but not a single parcel received a bid.

The royalty rate for oil and gas leases on New Mexico's state lands is 25 percent, more than twice the federal government's rate, yet there has been no shortage of interest. Last year, the State Land Office reported record-breaking sales primarily in the Permian Basin, a vast oil-producing region covering southeastern New Mexico and most of West Texas.

Deubel believes the federal government is prioritizing private industry over the people who live near drilling sites and face effects to their health and local environment.

"On one hand, it creates high-paying jobs, which is fantastic," Deubel noted. "On the other hand, it really creates an environmental effect and local communities have to live with the consequences of that, and so, should get the greatest return on investment."

Since returning to office for a second term, Trump has promoted "energy dominance" through the aggressive expansion of oil, natural gas, and coal production, while working to end federal support for wind and solar energy.