Democracy for New Mexico

Fragile: Earth Day 2007

Above image courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, AS17-148-22727, from https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov.

"'If people can see Earth from up here, see it without those borders, see it without any differences in race or religion, they would have a completely different perspective. Because when you see it from that angle, you cannot think of your home or your country. All you can see is one Earth...."'

--Anousheh Ansari, Iranian-American space tourist who flew last year to the international space station.

Many are trading their inefficient incandescent light bulbs for energy saving fluorescent bulbs these days. Let's hope we can also trade this dim bulb for one that lights the way to change:

Finally, here's something Sting performed in honor of 9-11 right after it occurred, but I think it could apply to most things happening on the Earth right now, the lives being lived (and those ending) on the planet and maybe even the planet itself. How fragile we are ....

Richardson Names Reinstituted Ethics Reform Task Force

With the intent to call a Special Session on Ethics Reform later this year, Governor Bill Richardson has named a 23-member Ethics Reform Task Force to once again study and recommend legislation concerning such issues as limiting campaign contributions, creating an independent ethics commission, requiring improved campaign reporting and public funding of statewide elections. They'll also analyze why the NM Legislature balked at passing most of the major ethics and campaign reforms introduced this year.

Last year the Governor named an 17-member task force charged with similar tasks and used many of their recommendations to create a legislative package for the 2007 Legislative Session. Unfortunately, only a couple of elements of that package gained passage -- including public funding for Court of Appeals and Supreme Court judicial elections and limitations on gifts -- despite Richardson's call for a special session to consider the rest of the ethics bills, along with other legislation. All of the ethics package bills passed the NM House, but were held up on the Senate side, most of them by inaction in the Senate Rules Committee chaired by Sen. Linda Lopez.

In a press release issued on Friday, Gov. Richardson had this to say:

I am pleased that so many members of the first task force have agreed to continue their service, and grateful to the new members who give a fresh perspective to the work of the group,” said Governor Richardson. “The work of this group is critical, and I expect the task force to meet quickly and begin their work as soon as possible. Republicans and Democrats, business and government, non-profit and public, I believe this diverse group will help ensure the public’s best interests are well represented.

The members of the Governor’s Task Force on Ethics Reform are:

Co-Chairs

• Governor Garrey Carruthers, Dean, NMSU College of Business
• Suellyn Scarnecchia, Dean of the UNM School of Law

Members

1. Diane Denish, Lt. Governor State of New Mexico
2. Stewart Udall, Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior
3. Governor Charlie Dorame, Governor, Pueblo of Tesuque
4. James Lewis, NM State Treasurer
5. Stuart Bluestone, NM Chief Deputy Attorney General
6. Dede Feldman, NM State Senator (D-Albuquerque)
7. John Ryan, NM State Senator (R-Bernalillo, Albuquerque)
8. Ken Martinez, House Majority Leader, NM State Representative (D-Grants)
9. Jeff Steinborn, NM State Representative (D-Las Cruces)
10. Don Tripp, NM State Representative (R-Socorro)
11. Bill McCamley, Dona Ana County Commissioner
12. Jim Noel, Executive Director, Judicial Standards Commission
13. Doug Brown, Principal, Brown and Brown Ventures (former State Treasurer)
14. Leonard Sanchez, CPA, Moss Adams LLP
15. Norman Thayer, Attorney, Sutin Thayer and Browne
16. Tom Keesing, Realtor, Santa Fe Agency Real Estate
17. Geno Zamora, President, Zamora Strategic Advisors (former Democratic candidate, Attorney General)
18. Fred Nathan, Executive Director, Think New Mexico
19. Matt Brix, Policy Director, Center for Civic Policy (former Executive Director, Common Cause NM)
20. Claire Weiner, Public Member (who served on the Election Reform Task Force)
21. Maralyn Budke, Public Member

Editor's Note: Our posts on the handling of the ethics and campaign reform package in the 2007 NM Legislature can be found among the contents of our archive of posts on the topic, as well as in our 2007 Legislature archive.

(Updated) Surreal Iraq Policies Accompany Deadly Escalation

(Albuquerque Tribune)

Well it's one, two, three, what are we fightin' for? From McClatchy Newspapers:

WASHINGTON - Military planners have abandoned the idea that standing up Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon and now believe that U.S. troops will have to defeat the insurgents and secure control of troubled provinces. Training Iraqi troops, which had been the cornerstone of the Bush administration's Iraq policy since 2005, has dropped in priority, officials in Baghdad and Washington said.

And then there's this:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The United States military has begun sealing off Baghdad neighborhoods with concrete walls in a controversial new strategy intended to calm Baghdad's sectarian flashpoints, but residents fear the barriers could deepen divisions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.  Seven so-called "gated communities" have been or are being built, according to military officials, and more may be coming under the wide-ranging Baghdad security crackdown launched nine weeks ago.

... residents say the barriers actually increase their feelings of isolation and make them feel like targets.

"Don't they realize that when the Baghdad neighborhoods become either Sunni or Shiite, they will become even more vulnerable?" said Yassir Ismail, a 34-year-old Sunni resident of Adhamiyah, one of the areas where the U.S. is putting up barriers. "Extremists from both sides - or mercenaries - will have no more qualms. . . . They will bomb each other to kingdom come."

UPDATE 4.23.07: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has put a stop to construction of the wall:

"I oppose the building of the wall and its construction will stop," al-Maliki said during a joint news conference with the secretary-general of the Arab League. "There are other methods to protect neighborhoods, but I should point out that the goal was not to separate, but to protect."

He did not elaborate but added "this wall reminds us of other walls that we reject, so I've ordered it to stop and to find other means of protection for the neighborhoods." He wasn't more specific but apparently was referring to the Berlin Wall during the Cold War and Israel's construction of a barrier in the West Bank to keep out suicide bombers.

****************

Meanwhile:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 173 people died in Baghdad on Wednesday in a series of major explosions, making the day the capital's deadliest since the onset nine weeks ago of a much-touted U.S.-Iraqi security plan. The violence capped a dreadful seven days that began with a stunning suicide attack in the Iraqi parliament building in the heavily fortified Green Zone, which killed a lawmaker. At least 363 people died in Baghdad in the past week, including 118 whose bodies were found dumped in various parts of the city.

... Pentagon planners privately expressed concern. One official sighed at news of the bombings. "We don't have enough troops. It would take another 100,000" to properly protect Baghdad. Another said: "We are just trying the same things over and over again."

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." --Albert Einstein

From Iraq Coalition Casualty Count:

Total U.S. troop deaths: 3,317, including 70 so far this month
Total U.S. Wounded: 24,764

Is it any wonder that Sen. Harry Reid has this to say?

"... As long as we follow the President’s path in Iraq, the war is lost."

Guest Blog: Richardson's Experience Proves He's a Fit Candidate

This is a guest blog by Stephen Fox of Santa Fe that was originally published in The Daily Lobo: In a speech given in New Hampshire in late 2006, Gov. Bill Richardson said, "One thing the Bush administration has never understood is that diplomacy and military power are not alternatives to one another, but rather complementary sources of strength. Because diplomacy without power is weak, and power without diplomacy is blind."

This is the very core of Richardson's international platform, and the kind of insight he gained as a U.N. ambassador and energy secretary under President Bill Clinton. Richardson's trip to North Korea is already bringing important results.

His international résumé is a breath of fresh air, and since the U.S. needs to rebuild and rethink its international policies after six years of corporate, Halliburton-driven plutocracy, I believe Richardson must become president.

Our domestic economy is in the pits because of hundreds of billions of dollars going to Iraq and Afghanistan - mostly military expenditures - all to advance the Bush administration's corporate agenda. Other nations are capitalizing on our errors and distractions - like China, with its trillion-dollar balance of payments, as well as Russia, which has funded many developing nations in their colonial struggles, pointing to our oppressive presence in Iraq and telling African, South Asian and South American nations that they are perfectly willing to buy their natural resources instead of plundering them.

On March 28, Richardson said, "I would not leave any troops in Iraq ... If I were president today, I would withdraw by the end of this calendar year ... But I would also have a reconciliation conference of the three religious groups, forge a coalition government and divide the country into three entities."

The international backlash of a totally failed U.S. foreign policy has profound implications for a worsening domestic economy, and the situation is getting seriously worse by the day. This is why I support Richardson's presidential campaign.

Editor's Notes: This is a guest blog by Stephen Fox, who describes himself as follows: Stephen Fox is a Santa Fe Art dealer and the founder of New Millennium Fine Art.He is keen on New Mexico establishing a higher standard for nutrition not just for schools, but at all levels. He authored a bill to ban the neurotoxic artificial sweetener Aspartame, which was sponsored by Sen. Ortiz y Pino, but during the 2007 session, the bill was shot down by "insidious mendacious corporate lobbyists, the scourge of the legislative process," representing Coca Cola, and Ajinomoto of Japan, the world's largest manufacturer of both MSG and Aspartame.  He is working on establish a Nutrition Council for the United Nations by passage of a Resolution he wrote. The text and supporting medical documents can be found at Fox's website.

Guest blogs provide an opportunity for readers to express their personal opinions on relevant political matters and don't necessarily represent the views of DFNM. If you'd like to submit a post for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link at the upper left-hand corner of our main page.

Citizen Action Interview on Radio Free Silver, Community Cable

From Dave McCoy, Citizen Action: Friends, Kyle Johnson of Radio Free Silver will run an interview with Dave McCoy, Director of Citizen Action, nightly for a week at 7 PM on Ch 27 in Silver City starting this Friday the 20th. It will probably run next Tuesday or the following Tuesday at 2 PM on Ch 27 in Albuquerque and Friday the 20th at 8 PM in Santa Fe. A page on Radio Free Silver is dedicated to the show and includes a link back to Citizen Action.

Santa Fe Earth Day Events

From the City of Santa Fe:
Earth Day this Saturday is a time to commemorate gains we have made to protect our planet and to create new momentum for a healthy, sustainable environment. Here is a list of upcoming events for Santa Fe residents to join together in the spirit of Earth Day and beautify our community:

Great American Clean Up: Saturday, April 21, 2007. Registration is from 7 to 9 AM. Trash bags will be provided at the Parks, Trails and Watershed Division Building 1142 Siler Road. Organize a clean up in your neighborhood or clean another area of interest. A volunteer picnic will be held from 12 noon until 2 PM at the Buckman Road Recycling and Transfer Station, 1686 Paseo de Vista.

All Species Day/Earth Day Celebration hosted by Ecoversity: Saturday, April 21, at Frenchy's Field Park. The All Species Day Parade starts at Frenchy’s Field at 11 AM with performers; the parade then makes its way to the Ecoversity campus (2639 Agua Fria) at noon and the celebration goes until sunset.

SFCC Discovery Day: Saturday, April 21, at Santa Fe Community College, from 10 AM to 2 PM. At 10 AM, watch a slide presentation based on “An Inconvenient Truth” given by environmental ambassador Doug Stewart, who was trained by Al Gore. At 11:15 AM, watch a free screening of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.” For more information call 428-1604.

FREE Household Hazardous Waste Drop Off Day: Sunday, April 22, 2007 from 9 AM to 4 PM at the Buckman Road Recycling and Transfer Station, 1686 Paseo de Vista. Accepted items include acids, batteries, cleaners, medicines, poisons, paints (latex and oil), photo chemicals, thermometers, smoke detectors, weed killer, auto fluids, insect killers, thinners and solvents. Items that will NOT be accepted include: ammunition, explosives, radioactive waste and commercial wastes.

City of Santa Fe Green Facts:

Did you know that every single one of Santa Fe Trails 25 buses (fixed route fleet) is powered by clean burning compressed natural gas (CNG)?

Did you know that the city has over 40 alternative fuel vehicles in its fleet and that all worn out or failed equipment is replaced with energy star or LEED-approved units?

Did you know that three major city construction projects – the Railyard, civic center and Southside Library – will serve as models for water conservation? All three projects incorporate a mix of water conservation and water harvesting strategies.

Did you know that the City is about to hire a contractor to convert the city code from the Uniform Building Code to the performance-based International Building Code? This conversion is a necessary first step to addressing what green building standards in Santa Fe cold look like.

Did you know that the City of Santa Fe recently established a “Green Team,” an interdepartmental group of city staff that have volunteered to work on “green” goals set by the City Council?

Did you know that the new civic center construction will reflect Santa Fe's leadership in both green design and greenhouse gas reduction? The new building will be constructed to a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver rating, a national standard for developing high-performance sustainable buildings. Southside Library and Railyard has water harvesting systems.

Did you know that Santa Fe raised the bar for green design after Santa Fe became the first U.S. city to adopt the Architecture 2030 Challenge? The 2030 Challenge is a national effort to systematically reduce and finally reverse the amount of greenhouse gas emissions created during construction and operation of buildings by the year 2030.

Did you know that as a result of a resolution, introduced by Councilor Matthew Ortiz, Discovery Audits has been conducting an audit of the city’s energy and telecommunication, looking for errors, efficiencies and needs?

Did you know that the City of Santa Fe Water Conservation Office offers rebates for water efficient washing machines and hot water recirculators?

Number Of White House Officials Allowed To Intervene In DoJ Cases Jumps By 10,325 Percent

Think Progress has video and a transcript of an amazing exchange between Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Gonzales from yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Go see. Talk about compare and contrast ...

Indigo Girls Shiprock & Flagstaff Concerts to Benefit Fight Against Desert Rock Power Plant

Click on image for larger version or click for PDF of flyer

Honor the Earth and Indigo Girls in the Southwest
There is a great deal of amazing energy justice organizing happening in Native communities in the Southwest. We are excited to announce two benefit shows in Shiprock, New Mexico and Flagstaff, Arizona this May, supporting the efforts of the Desert Rock blockade and the Just Transition Coalition. For more information on Honor the Earth, please check out www.honorearth.org.

05.21.07 - Shiprock, New Mexico

05.22.07 - Flagstaff, Arizona

Honor the Earth Concert in Shiprock Calls for Safe Energy on Native Lands
On Monday night, May 21st, the Grammy Award winning folk-rock duo, Indigo Girls (Amy Ray and Emily Saliers), will take the stage at the Phil L. Thomas Performing Arts Center in Shiprock for a special night of music with a message. The concert, entitled Honor the Earth, is a benefit designed to lend support to grassroots Native groups working to stop the Desert Rock coal plant and herald in a new, safe energy economy, one based on the vast renewable energy potential of Native lands.

The Indigo Girls - Honor the Earth concert will start at 7:00 PM, with doors at 6:00 PM. The acclaimed Hopi reggae band Casper will open the show. Tickets are on sale at the Phil Thomas Performing Arts Center and the Shiprock Trading Center in Shiprock, at Hastings in Farmington, and at Maria's Bookstore in Durango, CO. To charge by phone, call 505.368.2490. Ticket prices range from $20.00 to $30.00.

“The heroic struggle of the Navajo people against coal and uranium mining and for a new, safe energy economy offers a vital and positive vision for all of Indian country, and all of America,” said Winona LaDuke, Executive Director of the national Native environmental group Honor the Earth, which is sponsoring the concert.

“Honor the Earth has worked for decades to support communities protecting their land, water, air and future generations. With this benefit concert, we will continue to stand with the people of Dine Bii Kaya,” stated LaDuke. “Energy does not have to come at the expense of a people’s ecosystem and culture.”

Navajo communities in the Four Corners area have been at a stand off with Sithe Global Power and the Dine Power Authority over the construction of Desert Rock, a 1,500 megawatt minemouth, coal fired power plant that would cost 2.2 billion dollars to build and sit on 580 acres about 30 miles southwest of Farmington.

At a time when tribes, cities, states and nations are working to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the Desert Rock plant would increase them. CO2 emissions from Desert Rock will amount to 10 million metric tons a year, effectively canceling any gains from Governor Bill Richardson’s Executive Order calling for a reduction of 10.5 million metric tons of carbon per year by 2012.

In fact, if Desert Rock becomes operational, it will push the Four Corners area over Federal EPA air quality standards. Asthma, other respiratory diseases and cancers are already rampant in the communities due to toxins spewed by existing power plants, mines, delivery systems and oil and gas wells; a new plant would only add to these adverse impacts.

“It is blatant environmental racism and injustice when you place a third Power Plant in an impoverished community with little or no access to healthcare,” said Lori Goodman of Dine CARE. “For our elders and future generations, we vow to fight this intrusion upon our people's health and way of life.”

The Honor the Earth Indigo Girls concert will not only draw attention to stopping new coal facilities, but also address the overarching issue of global climate change and the urgent need to transition away from an economy based on fossil fuels to one based on renewable energy, like wind and solar power. “We're seeing a change,” said Winona LaDuke, referring to her long term work on energy policy. “People are continuing to say that they want to protect their generations from toxins, but they are also demanding that we all take steps to avert climate collapse.”

The most abundant solar resources in America are in the southwestern states. According to EPA scientists, sufficient solar energy falls in the southwest to provide all of the nation’s electricity at current consumption levels. New photovoltaic technologies, such as concentrated solar power plants, can now produce electricity at a cost competitive to coal, and solar panels produce no CO2 and other pollutants when generating electricity. Such data highlights that Native people’s call for the creation of a renewable energy economy is more than visionary – it is doable.

Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls discussed Honor the Earth’s support for such visionary grassroots action by stating, “We stand in solidarity with Native communities who are fighting toxic and climate changing fossil fuel-based energy on their land. Shifting the current U.S. energy paradigm toward renewable sources is the hope for our future as we come to fully respect and implement the rights of people to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and protect the environment for future generations."

Second Show in Flagstaff May 22
Indigo Girls will perform a second show May 22 in Flagstaff, at the Pine Mountain Amphitheater. The two shows will benefit Operation Desert Rock, Dooda Desert Rock, Diné CARE and the Just Transition Coalition.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
HONOR THE EARTH 612-879-7529 or honorearth@earthlink.net
FOR TALENT INTERVIEWS:
BECKY BODONYI 404-377-9900 or becky@rcam.com

Editor's Note: The Indigo Girls, along with Richie Havens, will also perform at the Santa Fe Opera at 6:30 PM on May 17, billed as  Building a Culture of Peace: A World Peace Concert Event. Click for ticket information. Click for information on the itself, to be held in Santa Fe May 16-17, 2007.

Vermont Senate Votes to Impeach Bush, Cheney

Unlike New Mexico, where nine Democrats joined Republicans on a procedural maneuver to kill a NM Senate Joint Memorial seeking impeachment of Bush and Cheney during this year's Legislative Session, Vermont's Senate today voted 16-9 for a similar measure. As reported this morning by the Associated Press:

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Vermont senators voted Friday to call for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, saying their actions have raised "serious questions of constitutionality."

... The resolution says Bush and Cheney's actions in the U.S. and abroad, including in Iraq, "raise serious questions of constitutionality, statutory legality, and abuse of the public trust."

"I think it's going to have a tremendous political effect, a tremendous political effect on public discourse about what to do about this president," said James Leas, a vocal advocate of withdrawing troops from Iraq and impeaching Bush and Cheney.

... Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington has kept a similar resolution from reaching the floor in her chamber. She argued that an impeachment resolution would be partisan and divisive and that it would distract Washington from efforts to get the United States out of Iraq, which she says is more important.

... Forty towns voted in favor of similar nonbinding impeachment resolutions at their annual town meetings in March.

To trace what happened with New Mexico's legislative impeachment resolution, check our archive of impeachment posts.

Many Protesting NBC's Release of Virginia Tech Killer's "Manifesto"

Reports are coming in that NBC News is being deluged by emails and phone calls complaining about their decision to broadcast and rebroadcast (and rebroadcast) the "manifesto" mailed to them by the murderer of 32 at Virginia Tech. NBC mailboxes are full and phone lines down due to the high volume of complaints. However, we just received a tip that NBC News can still be reached at this number, 201-583-5222, if you'd like to express your opinion on the document and video release. You can also directly contact local NBC affiliate KOB-TV News at 764-2470.

Viewers are outraged that the news organization seems to be playing into the hands of the killer by ensuring widespread dissemination of his distorted and hateful point of view, as well as his carefully crafted images. Imagine what the families and friends of the victims must be feeling. Clearly, NBC had a choice in what they aired, and they made it without much regard to the havoc (and potential copycat behavior) such broadcasts might create.