Six governors took a "little" junket to Glasgow, Scotland for a United Nations climate change conference last November. One of the six was New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
According to The Center Square:
(The Center Square) – Gov. Jay Inslee brought his wife to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, sticking Washington taxpayers with the bill, which included more than $12,510.08 for business class airfare for the couple, something no other governor did at taxpayer expense.
Inslee led a delegation of subnational governments to the conference. The total travel tab for Washington taxpayers cost $25,955.32, more than any other U.S. state examined by The Center Square. The higher cost was due in part to the governor's decision to fly with his wife in business class while other governors who attended at taxpayer expense flew in less expensive seats.
Inslee was one of six state governors who attended the conference. All six are part of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a group created in response to former President Donald Trump's climate policies. The other state leaders were New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Hawaii Gov. David Ige, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown.
In total, state documents obtained by The Center Square through open records requests show taxpayers in these six states spent more than $90,000 – not including most security costs – to send governors and other state employees to the conference in Glasgow in November 2021, during a time of pandemic restrictions, Zoom meetings and rising inflation.
The records detail what state leaders in Washington, New Mexico, Hawaii, Louisiana, Illinois, and Oregon did during the conference and how much it cost state taxpayers. Oregon was the only state that included the costs of providing security. The records from all other states examined didn't include security costs. Those costs likely added at least thousands of dollars for taxpayers in each state.
Some governors wined and dined pretty "high on the hog" more so than others. What is interesting is that most of the expenses incurred by Lujan Grisham were either unavailable, hidden or her office is not responding to queries. Could her re-election campaign have something to do with that?
The Center Square also reported:
The bill for New Mexico taxpayers was $0, according to spending records from the governor's office. New Mexico officials didn't respond to questions about how the trip was funded, but the Associated Press reported the Climate Registry and the Energy Foundation paid for trip expenses. The Center Square has requested, but not yet received, spending records from the New Mexico State Police, which provided security to the governor during the trip.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's schedule for the trip included sightseeing, such as a visit to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood House and Arthur's Seat and a bus tour of the Scottish Highlands and Loch Ness.
In addition to food, travel and lodging, all six states paid hundreds of dollars for COVID-19 testing required for travel and for the conference.
According to the article, The Climate Registry is "a Los Angeles-based nonprofit group "that empowers North American organizations to do more in the fight against climate change by providing services and tools that help them reduce their emissions." If they paid most of Lujan Grisham's expenses, this would have to be reported as a campaign contribution or an in-kind contribution with the New Mexico Secretary of State's office. Was it? Frankly, I wouldn't put much trust in what the governor's office provided on her junket spending.
One prominent climate activist was not impressed with this gathering of liberal Democrat politicians.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg, 19, called the climate summit a failure.
“It is not a secret that COP26 is a failure. It should be obvious that we cannot solve the crisis with the same methods that got us into it in the first place,” she said during a speech about two miles away from the conference center. “The COP has turned into a PR event, where leaders are giving beautiful speeches and announcing fancy commitments and targets, while behind the curtains governments of the Global North countries are still refusing to take any drastic climate action.”
A good look at Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's expenses, including official and campaign records, is called for to see what she actually spent for this junket and if she complied with all reporting laws along with expenses incurred by the New Mexico State Police.
To read more, go here.
