New Mexico’s citizens are blessed with wide-open stretches of beauty that appropriately gives the state its title of Land of Enchantment. From the rocky cliffs of the Sangre de Cristos, the rugged outcroppings across the central plains, to the shore of the Red Bluff Reservoir there are plenty of places to see, and even more road to cover in the nation’s fifth largest state.

However, what is an appealing aesthetic of the state, also translates to a higher transportation cost for many citizens – if they can get access to it. According to WalletHub, New Mexico’s citizens have some of the worst access to vehicles and maintenance in the country, ranking 45 out of 50 for that. Transportation safety ranks only a little higher at 43 out of 50.

Bureau of Labor statistics say a married couple with children pays between $12,000 and $14,000 a year for transportation, and while New Mexico is slightly cheaper than that national average, other factors eliminate that marginal bonus. For example, nearly half of all rural child care providers reported higher transportation costs, along with 17 percent of urban providers.

Never mind that New Mexico’s drivers lose $1.9 billion a year because of damage caused by poorly maintained roads, congestion in the cities, and crashes. If you took the entire population of New Mexico – about 2.1 million people – and split that figure evenly among them, it works out to a stunning $906 a year per person.

That’s more than the average cost of rent of $803, which itself accounts for a fifth of family budgets.

Of course, not everyone in New Mexico drives for a number of reasons, including poverty.

New Mexico is the second-poorest state in the country with one in five families living in poverty, and one in four children are at or below the poverty line. Adding to the woes, the real income in New Mexico is the second-lowest in the country, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Transportation, though, gets cheaper when gasoline prices come down and New Mexico is fortunate to be enjoying an oil and natural gas boom that has helped make the U.S.A. the single biggest producer of crude oil. That’s keeping prices in New Mexico down compared to the national average and making life easier for Americans and the people of New Mexico.

If only the state’s plan to make all utilities go carbon-free by 2045 would do the same.

That not-so-distant political promise is going to create more costs for consumers, who will pay for the cost of utilities abandoning their coal-fired power plants to meet the mandate, but not ensuring a plan to replace the reliable power that will be forfeited.

If California’s experiment with less reliable sources of energy as part of similar mandate is anything to go by, some estimates forecast that power costs could double in New Mexico – just like they did in California.

That transition will keep natural gas – a cleaner-burning, homegrown fuel – from benefiting the people of New Mexico. It will be banned as a source of fuel despite having reduced carbon emissions by 12 percent over the last decade. Many countries like India have in fact adopted natural gas for taxis to help meet carbon reduction targets, and no one has seen their taxi bills go up.

It’s too early to say what the transition to different kinds of cars will do – but if electricity prices shoot up, electric cars will not look so appealing anymore.

Since New Mexico families already have a high cost-of-living burden because of transportation costs, lower real income and many other economic factors, elected leaders need to consider the needs of families first when they make promises for a cleaner future.

One part of the answer – natural gas – is right in New Mexico. You can tell your friends and elected officials that clean, reliable and cheaper choices can start at home.

New Mexico’s families have the highest credit card debt in America, according to CreditCards.com.

In fact, the average burden of $8,323 a month in credit card debt would require a family to pay nearly $585 in payment for 17 months to pay that off. The interest cost alone would be around $1,300.

That payment is nearly three-fourths of the average apartment rental of $831 people in New Mexico pay, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

Taken in the context – with New Mexico being the second-poorest state in the union with one in five families living in poverty, it’s easy to see how little margin the state’s citizens have for additional costs.

One in four children in New Mexico live in poverty, and many families make either-or choices about paying for food or rent.  In fact, 61 percent of New Mexico’s hungry families have to choose between paying their utility bill or eating.

For any of those families with credit card debt, you can see how hard it would be for them to make the minimum payment. Even ordinary families have a considerable burden coming from their credit cards, can you imagine the struggle for those living paycheck to paycheck or below the poverty line struggling to make ends meet.

What that equals for many people is a debt trap – making minimum payments while the interest continues to pile up, or worse, falling behind and taking a hit to their credit.

So New Mexico’s families can barely afford what they have to pay for already, and their real income is the second-lowest in the country, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

However, there is a silver lining – the boom coming from New Mexico’s oil and gas industry is improving the state’s economy and creating more jobs for people across the educational spectrum, including those who don’t have a college degree.

This is a real economic benefit for the state. However, it could get taken away if the state’s ambitious plan to make all utilities carbon-free by 2045 goes ahead. The one thing New Mexico’s legislators missed when creating this ambitious plan – the plan would eliminate natural gas, one of New Mexico’s local products, from the mix.

By doing that, customers are going to have to pay for the retirement of coal-fired power plants through bonds. That cost will show up on customers’ bills sooner than 2045. The substitute: natural gas. A fuel that not only could provide the reliable power need to replace the lost coal generation.

Then there is the very real risk that the overall cost of electricity itself will go up, since the newer technologies aren’t as reliable or efficient as natural gas generation. Natural gas has the additional benefit of reducing carbon emissions, and in fact has cut carbon emissions by 12 percent over the last decade.

That’s a cleaner, cheaper source that’s home-grown right in New Mexico.

So why should New Mexico’s families have to pay a higher price for utilities when they have the solution right in their backyard? Unfortunately, that’s because special interest groups are pushing their vision of a cleaner future without considering the cost to real people.

That’s something to tell your friends and elected officials the next time you’re thinking about cutting costs, to pay down your credit card debt or just to keep you and your family’s head above water with all the costs of living.

New Mexico pulled off a rare feat late last year – it had record-setting home sales while high mortgage costs dulled sales across the country.

That sounds like a much-needed win for the state’s economy, and it is. But not for everybody.

The problem is, working families in New Mexico are already struggling to pay their bills, and so even though the cost of living may seem lower – it’s not.

Like any statistic taken alone, higher housing prices look like the sign of a growing economy. In that context, it’s a positive sign.

Then consider how much people really make in New Mexico, and think again.

New Mexico’s real pay is among the lowest in the country, and its real income is the second-lowest in the country, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Nearly one out of five lives at or below the poverty level, and a stunning one in four children.

What that means is that the average family in New Mexico is struggling to pay an average rent of $803, or their mortgages along with their other bills. In the case of the least fortunate families, they are choosing between paying for basics like food or housing because they only have the money to afford one. That’s an either-or choice no one should have to make.

So housing costs going up may be positive for the overall health of the economy, but not for everyone. There are several reasons why, and one is the supply of houses and apartments available to those who want them.

New Mexico’s housing inventory is tight, which means supply is low and prices are correspondingly higher. In Santa Fe alone, there is a shortage of 6,000 apartments and only about a third of that is being built now. Bidding wars are breaking out for homes right near the median home price of $200,000, all of which means families are paying for more for the basics.

We all know what it means to stick to a budget and try to cut costs, so we have what we need and if we are lucky, some of what we want. Unfortunately, not many New Mexicans have enough for what they need.

That’s why it’s important for elected leaders to balance their decision-making so that everyone gets what they need, not just special interest groups. The recent bill passed that commits New Mexico utilities to have all carbon-free sources by 2045 is an excellent example of what can happen when the balance is wrong and the risk that poses to working families.

New Mexico has abundant oil and natural gas resources, which are creating jobs and raising wages during the current boom. Natural gas – a cleaner-burning fuel that has helped reduce carbon emissions 12 percent over the last decade and by as much as 47 percent in the northwest part of the state – isn’t part of New Mexico’s planned carbon-free future.

If California’s experience mandating aggressive changes away from reliable, clean-burning fuels is anything to go by, families in New Mexico can expect higher energy prices sooner rather than later. California’s retail energy prices have doubled over the last 15 years, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

With housing getting more expensive already, there is no reason for New Mexico to turn away from a clean-burning, home-grown resource that can help struggling families afford more for their money. That’s a good conversation to have with your elected leaders – ask them to help more families afford a comfortable life by making smarter energy choices.