It’s election season, which means it’s time for the grand political tradition of vulnerable Democrats desperately trying to pretend they aren't card-carrying members of the climate apocalypse cult. The latest contestant in the great centrist rebrand is Representative Gabriel Vasquez, D-N.M., who is currently running for his political life in a highly competitive swing district.

Unfortunately for Vasquez, the internet is forever, and an unearthed video from 2021 has caught him dead-rights planning a full-scale assault on natural gas and fossil fuels back when he was trying to secure his party's progressive nomination. In the clip, Vasquez goes full central-planner, calling for mandatory electrification of pretty much everything in sight.

"We have to champion a whole bunch of different policies to really mitigate the impact of climate change," Vasquez proclaimed in the 2021 interview. He then went on to list his green fantasies, including the "electrification of our fleet systems... the electrification of residential developments, the electrification of commercial and municipal developments, limiting the use of natural gas and other fossil fuels and carbon-based fuels and replacing them with electric."

Fast forward to today, and Vasquez has suddenly seen the light. With a tough reelection fight on his hands, his campaign website now reads like an oil and gas industry newsletter, declaring that he "stands by the energy workers in the Permian Basin" and champions an "all-of-the-above" energy approach. Because nothing makes a politician appreciate fossil fuels quite like realizing they might lose their job.

This sudden respect for oil and gas might have something to do with the fact that New Mexico’s state budget is completely dependent on the very industry Vasquez wanted to dismantle. The Permian Basin is a literal cash cow. According to the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, the energy industry brings in a whopping $13.1 billion in total revenue.

Even more embarrassing for the anti-fossil-fuel crowd, the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration reports that $7.5 billion of that oil money goes straight into the state's general fund. That means nearly a third of New Mexico's entire budget—which pays for things like schools, roads, and emergency services—is funded by the carbon emissions progressives lose sleep over.

When confronted with this glaring double standard, Vasquez’s campaign team did what any good spin doctors would do: they claimed he’s proud of both stances. Campaign spokesperson Patricia Santiago stated that Gabe is "proud of his record" on clean energy while simultaneously supporting an "all-of-the-above" energy approach in Congress. You have to admire the flexibility.

Vasquez’s Republican challenger, former law enforcement agent Greg Cunningham, wasn't buying the sudden transformation. Cunningham pointed out the absolute hypocrisy of progressive politicians who love to spend oil tax money while publicly shaming the workers who generate it.

"Progressives like Gabe Vasquez are first in line to spend our oil and gas money, and then they run around and shame the very industry that funds our schools, builds our roads," Cunningham observed.

This isn't the first time Vasquez has had his past comments come back to haunt him. He’s already had to explain away resurfaced footage where he called for "deconstructing" law enforcement, not to mention another video where he referred to his own home state of New Mexico as "stolen land." It turns out that running as a far-left activist works great until you actually have to get elected by normal people.

Sources: * New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration * New Mexico Oil and Gas Association * City of Las Cruces Municipal Records * Office of Representative Gabriel Vasquez