Democracy for New Mexico

Mother Media & Break the Grip: Attend NM Legislative Energy Policy Meetings Today & Tomorrow

From Mother Media and Break the Grip:
Action Alert: The Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Interim Committee meets today and tomorrow to discuss New Mexico Energy Policy in Room 309 of the Roundhouse. Please come to prevent nuclear, coal and PNM corporate monopoly interests from dominating the discussion. Read the agenda on the NM Legislature website. Mother Media and Break the Grip will be there starting at 9 AM today, Thursday, July 12.

Although we may not be able to cover the entire session, we especially recommend citizens attend the Nuclear Energy Institute's presentation at 3 PM today where we suspect they may unveil proposed siting locations for new nuclear power plants either in New Mexico or the Four Corners area. Senator Domenici has apparently proposed as many as thirteen different sites in New Mexico for nuclear power plant development.

Art Hull, the PNM lobbyist under investigation by the Attorney General for working out of the Governor's office during the last Legislative Session, will be presenting PNM's strategy for New Mexico at 9 AM Friday, July 13th. Mr. Hull deserves to hear from New Mexicans in person concerned about his influence over State government and PNM's aggressive push for nuclear and coal central plant infrastructure.

Over the last weeks, Mother Media and BreaktheGrip.org have done intensive research on New Mexico's energy policy direction. Major nuclear players like Jeff Sterba and Jim Ferland of Westinghouse and PNM now literally run the state, using lobbyists like Art Hull to operate out of the governor's office.

Understandably, therefore, concern that New Mexico's existing nuclear and uranium resources will make it the one stop shop for nuclear power on the Western grid have increased to panic levels. Cynically leveraging popular concern about global warming and climate change, nuclear power corporations believe they have found their opportunity to move from supplemental power supplier to major player, elbowing out renewable energy, distributed generation and efficiency through manipulation of the Legislature and the Public Regulation Commission.

The Eunice enrichment facility, the proposed reprocessing facility in Roswell/Hobbs, new uranium mining activities and the recent proposal by Richardson allies Henry Kissinger and George Schultz to downblend old warheads like those at Kirtland Air Force base for use in nuclear power plants make New Mexico ground zero for America's nuclear energy program.

Throughout the world, major innovations in power distribution now integrate the intermittent and decentralized power from solar, wind, biomass and co-generation (heat and electricity). State of the art electricity grids have moved away from centralized power plants to distributed, multipoint generation systems. One by one, European countries have shut down central power plants while successfully integrating huge amounts of renewable energy. Overall system cost has been dramatically reduced by locating energy sources close to high demand and providing high "infeed rates" to renewable energy and other innovative clean energy suppliers.

By reducing or eliminating the need for long power lines and the associated system balancing infrastructure, European and Chinese utilities have reduced overall system cost - and ratepayer bills - by up to 60%. PNM's outdated central nuclear and coal plant system would be illegal in some European countries because it is so backward, inefficient and costly to operate.

It takes time and energy to cover these committe hearings. Please help Mother Media intervene on behalf of New Mexico's citizens and environment by buying an ad in our newsletter or in The Sun News. Send us your text and graphics, then use our PayPal link or send a check to:

Leland Lehrman
163 Old Lamy Trail
Lamy, NM 87540   

Leland Lehrman can be reached at (505) 982-3609 or (505) 473-4458 and by email at leland.lehrman@gmail.com.

Join Noted NM Activist and Rancher Tweeti Blancett for a Discussion on Oil and Gas Drilling in Santa Fe County

Editor's Note -- Background on this issue and the Blancetts: Here's some excellent material from Orion Magazine about the battle against irresponsible oil and gas drilling in New Mexico and other parts of the West. And here's a video in the fine Sierra Club Chronicles series about the Blancett's fight against the drillers on their ranch in Northwestern New Mexico and beyond.

Tweeti Blancett and her husband, Linn

From Drilling Santa Fe:
On Tuesday, July 17, 2007, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM, Tweeti Blancett, longtime activist and New Mexico rancher, will present her graphic story of the ravages of oil and gas exploration and production in the San Juan Basin. Join Tweeti at the El Dorado Community Center, 1 Hacienda Loop, Santa Fe. Admission is free. Click for flyer.

Oil and gas exploration and production have not been an issue in Santa Fe County since the '80s. As energy prices skyrocket and as federal environmental regulations ease, the situation is quickly changing. Tweeti will discuss these changes.

In 2006, an oil company leased the mineral rights to 64,000 acres of private lands between the villages of Galisteo and Cerillos. In March 2007, over 6,000 acres of state-owned mineral rights between the village of Galisteo and County Roads 44/45 were leased by oil and gas interests. Already, one 1980's well in the Galisteo watershed has been revisited with high-pressure injections of possibly toxic chemicals to get the high grade oil flowing. Applications for more wells are pending.

Most of the land in Santa Fe County is a "split-estate." This means that even though one owns the surface of the land, the mineral rights belong to someone else. In Santa Fe County that "someone else" is likely to be oil and gas interests that can invade property, bulldoze a large site, set up a pit and drill through the water table for oil and gas.

It is critical that the County protect Santa Fe's many natural resources and quality of life, enforce its existing regulations, and strengthen certain provisions to address oil and gas production. Oil companies are now arguing that less stringent State regulations preempt local regulations, but citizens in other areas of New Mexico have fought back against the influence of the oil and gas industry. Counties can protect residents, wildlife and water.

Tweeti Blancett has traveled tirelessly for years speaking to groups from Montana to Otero Mesa. She brings together ranchers and environmentalists with a common message -- protect our land and water. Encourage local governments to stand up to the threats of immensely powerful industries. It is time for the citizens of Santa Fe County to hear her message.

For more information on this event and the issue, visit https://drillingsantafe.blogspot.com/ and or email us at drillingsantafe@earthlink.net.

RFK Jr. at Live Earth: See You On The Barricades

Audio (with photo) of RFK Jr. at Live Earth, Giants Stadium

The full text of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s kickass speech at this past weekend's Live Earth can be found at BradBlog, along with non-MSN video to accompany the sound. If you can only find the time to pay attention to one aspect of Live Earth, RFK Jr.'s no holds barred rant is the one to check out. Talk about speaking truth to power. Changing light bulbs is good. Changing the very power structure that controls how policy is made is paramount -- in other words, a paradigm change. Please read or see or listen to the whole thing, but here are a few excerpts:

The most important thing you can do is to get involved in the political process and get rid of all of these rotten politicians that we have in Washington D.C. -- Who are nothing more than corporate toadies for companies like Exxon and Southern Company, these villainous companies that consistently put their private financial interest ahead of American interest and ahead of the interest of all of humanity. This is treason and we need to start treating them now as traitors.

... And I want you to remember this, that we are not protecting the environment for the sake of the fishes and the birds, we are protecting it because nature is the infrastructure of our communities. And if we want to meet our obligation as a generation, as a civilization, as a nation, which is to create communities for our children that provide them with the same opportunities for dignity, and enrichment, and good health, and prosperity, and stability as the communities that our parents gave us, we've got to start by protecting our environmental infrastructure.

The air we breathe, the water we drink, the wildlife, the public lands, the things that connect us to our past to our history that provide context to our communities and that are the source, ultimately, of our values and our virtues and our character as a people and the future of our children.

And I will see all of you on the barricades.

There's been a lot of negative punditry about Live Earth in the mainstream media and on the web. Yeah, I know, the concerts used significant amounts of energy, much of the music wasn't someone's cup of tea, nothing will come of it, there's nothing we can do. In my opinion there's way too much of that  "I'm too cool to watch something like this and I'm gonna prove it by mocking it in print" attitude, even from certain segments of the progressive community.

I beg to differ. It was what it was, but I think it had incredibly strong elements of activism and leadership and inspired musicianship behind it and within it and reaching outside it. Remember, as Al Gore said many times, this was the KICKOFF to a 3-year MOVEMENT, not just a single event. Thousands of people worked hard all over the globe to make it happen, to try and incite ordinary people to action. There were many musical and rhetorical gems, some of which I'll be posting later. And make no mistake about it -- the messages about the seriousness of our environmental emergency penetrated everyone who tuned in via TV, webstream or radio at some level. It's a start. We have to start somewhere. There is no time to waste.

As the Pranksters used to ask, "Are you on the bus (powered by biofueld) or off the bus? Sign the pledge now. Stop being cynical. It's no a longer a luxury we can afford.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. website

Global Warming: A Real Solution, an incredibly hopeful must-read article by RFK Jr. that originally appeared in the 06.18.07 edition of Rolling Stone.

AlGore.com

P.S. You can now watch video segments of all the performances and speeches on demand at the Live Earth website.

Al Gore: Sign the Live Earth Pledge

First, if you haven't yet done so, read Al Gore's compelling NY Times op-ed. Then read his letter urging humans to sign the Live Earth Pledge and click the link to do it:

On 7.7.07 more than two billion people will come together during Live Earth. That number is unfathomable - more than one-fourth of the world’s population will participate in a single event and demand a solution to the climate crisis. This unique moment presents us with a unique choice.

Do we use this unprecedented opportunity to organize a global movement that will last beyond 7.7.07? Or do we let the moment pass?

I know my answer - and I think I know yours. That’s why I am issuing this challenge: Let’s use this moment to pledge our support to solving the climate crisis. Just as important – let’s ask everyone we know to join us as part of this movement.

Sign the 07.07.07 Live Earth Pledge.

I PLEDGE:

1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;

2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral;"

3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;

4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;

5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;

6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,

7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

Together we were able to make March’s Congressional hearings a huge moment by collecting more than 500,000 messages and demonstrating the significant public support for solving the climate crisis to our elected leaders and the media. Our next opportunity to demonstrate this growing movement will come on 7.7.07

Live Earth will not just be a 24-hour concert – but the launch of a massive campaign to demonstrate that the political will exists to solve the climate crisis.

As our movement grows larger we will shake loose the paralysis currently gripping our political system. Working together we can get it done.

Thank you,

Al Gore
https://www.algore.com/

Our previous posts on Live Earth are here and here. They include links for watching the concerts online, on TV, at local events and more. Live video and footage from concerts earlier today available here.

Where and When Can I See Live Earth? (Starts Tonight)

From Live Earth:
MSN will stream the Live Earth concerts LIVE from all seven continents starting from Sydney, Australia and continuing geographically and chronologically across the globe. Log on tonight -- Friday, July 6th -- at  7:15 PM (MT) (since it's tomorrow already in Australia) for the start of what is destined to be an incomparable 24 hours. Watch the Al Gore webcast video.

OFFICIAL CONCERTS AND SCHEDULE

USA START TIME (MDT): Summary Sheet
Live Earth Sydney - 7:10 PM, 7/6
Live Earth Tokyo  - 9:00 PM, 7/6 
Live Earth Shanghai - 5:00 AM, 7/7 
Live Earth Hamburg - 6:00 AM, 7/7
Live Earth London - 6:30 AM, 7/7
Live Earth Johannesburg - 10:00 AM, 7/7
Live Earth New York - 12:30 PM, 7/7 
Live Earth Rio de Janeiro - 1:00 PM, 7/7

Due to the global nature of this event, all times are subject to change. Stay tuned to www.liveearth.msn.com for the most current information on all the Live Earth concerts.

LIVE EARTH ON THE AIR
Live Earth will be transmitted worldwide in standard and high definition across multiple media channels - TV, radio, Internet and wireless channels. In the US, highlights from all Live Earth concerts and events will air on NBC at 8:00 PM on Saturday, 07.07.07. Visit www.liveearth.org for a more expansive list of International Broadcast Partners or click this direct link to on the air providers. Don't wanna watch it alone? There are over 8000 Friends of Live Earth events happening worldwide. Find one near you right here. Washington DC concert added.

Note: I'd double check online with the MSN and Live Earth sites as the events near their stated start times as last minute changes are to be expected. One event that doesn't yet show on the schedule is today's addition of a Live Earth event in Washington DC in the form of a Mother Earth concert and program hosted by Native Americans at the National Museum of the American Indian. Besides Native American speakers and musicians, including Albuquerque reggae band Native Roots, the event will feature a performance by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. It looks like it's scheduled for Saturday at 8:30 AM MDT. It's unclear when the band of scientists in Anarctica will perform!

Also see our earlier post on LIve Earth, which includes links to local viewing gatherings.

07.07.07 Party for the Planet

You've got your choice of events related to Al Gore's 07.07.07 Live Earth concert. You can find or host your own Live Earth gathering via this page at the Live Earth website. You can also watch a live stream online at their website or tune in to a variety of TV and radio channels.

MoveOn folks are also organizing various parties around the nation focusing on their Online Climate Town Hall with all the Dem candidates for president, as well as concert viewing. To find a party near you or create your own, type in your zip code here.

Defenders of Wildlife in NM is also hosting a Live Earth Watch Party at Coaches Sports Grill, 1414 Central SE in Albuquerque, just west of University on Saturday 7/7, from 6-10 PM. Doors open at 5 PM. No RSVP needed -- first come, first served.

You can also enter their raffle to win some great green prizes, including Al Gore’s book, green products, outdoor gear and more! Anyone who walks, rides their bike, or takes the bus to the event gets a free raffle ticket! Contact Lisa Hummons for more info: (505) 248-0118 x5, or lhummon@defenders.org

Concerts start in Sydney, Australia on Friday night Mountain Time, and end in New York City on Saturday. There will be as many as five concerts taking place simultaneously at any given time, each from a different continent. Coverage will vary depending on where and how you're getting your feed.

Also see our later post with updated information.

Rep. Steve Pearce Has His Head in the Sand: The Video

Adding to their Heads in the Sand on Global Warming campaign, the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund has released a new video (above) that pixilates our predicament with Republican Rep. Steve Pearce (NM-02) and his obtuse nonresponses to the threats of global climate change. Pearce wants to keep things just as they are because so many of his big donors make lots of money producing fuels that create greenhouse gases. He'd rather sacrifice the future of our children and grandchildren -- and maybe even the planet itself -- by defending the status quo instead of facing reality and supporting the actions necessary to address one of our most urgent problems.

You can check out the particulars of Pearce's disturbing record here. For instance, did you know that Pearce voted against the environment on 20 out of 20 related bills in the 109th Congress? He earned a zero percent score for 2005 and a zero percent score for 2006 in the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund scorecard.

Pearce to let him know what you think of his Head in the Sand approach to our environmental future. After all, he's supposed to be representing all the people, not just his favorite promoters of pollution. While you're at it, you might want to lend a hand to one of the Democrats who want to challenge Pearce in 2008 election:

• Al Kissling for Congress

Also see our previous post on Head-In-The-Sand Pearce. Click to support the work of the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, including their radio ad targeting Rep. Steve Pearce's dismal environmental record.

Of course, Pearce is just one ally of the Republican campaign to stop the advancing movement towards renewable energy. Be sure to check out the excellent Rolling Stone article, The Secret Campaign of President Bush's Administration to Deny Global Warming, for the dirty details.

Remember, the Republican members of Congress in our state -- Rep. Steve Pearce, Rep. Heather Wilson and Sen. Pete Domenici -- all stick with the Bush agenda no matter what. Can the planet stand another term from any of them?

Desert Rock Power Plant Update: Public Hearings Set for July

From the NM Wilderness Alliance:
Public Hearings will be held for citizens to speak out about the planned Desert Rock Power Plant in the Four Corners area. This is your chance to stand up for clean air, land and water in New Mexico! On May 22nd the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) released a draft EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) which strongly supports the Desert Rock Power Plant and 10 public hearings will be held on this, starting July 17th, 2007 (see below).

The BIA is holding these hearings because these communities and the people living in them will be directly affected by the Desert Rock coal-fired power plant. The mercury emitted by Desert Rock will find its way into the watersheds serving these communities, including both rivers and fishing lakes.

For more information, please contact Trisha London: trishal@nmwild.org.

Editor's Note: Here's the listing of all the scheduled hearings from https://www.desert-rock-blog.com, which is an activist site that covers the fight against the proposed filthy, coal-fired Desert Rock Power Plant:

• July 17, 5 - 8 PM, Farmington Civic Center.
• July 18, 10 AM - 1 PM, Ute Mountain Casino, Towaoc, Colo.
• July 10, 5 - 8 PM, Iron Horse Inn, Durango, Colo.
• July 19, 1 - 4 PM, Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Albuquerque.
• July 20, 1 - 4 PM, Runnels Building (Larrazolo Auditorium), Santa Fe.
• July 23, 10 AM - 1 PM, Shiprock Chapter House.
• July 23, 5 - 8 PM, Nenahnezad Chapter House.
• July 24, 10 AM - 1 PM, Burnham Chapter House.
• July 24, 5 - 8 PM, Veterans Memorial Center, Sanostee, N.M.
• July 25, 10 AM - 1 PM, Navajo Nation Museum, Window Rock.

You can download a copy of the draft EIS here, where you can also submit written comments about the proposed project. The closing date for comments is Aug. 20, 2007.

Also of interest is a recent that describes how the originally scheduled hearings were abruptly postponed without word getting to the Navajo activists who intended to testify, many of whom traveled many miles to attend the hearing orginally set for June 18. The article also reports on the process for plant approval and had this to say about the draft EIS:

The draft environmental impact statement, a document about the size of the Phoenix phonebook, analyzes how the power plant would affect the surrounding environment and people under various development scenarios. A technical consultant funded by Sithe Global and the DinŽ Power Authority prepared the EIS, which is required under federal law.

It concludes that there will be adverse impacts but that these would be outweighed by the benefits of job creation and revenue for the tribal government.

Opponents fault the study for inadequate research and misleading conclusions, and say it dodges the most significant question of this era - how the power plant would contribute to global warming.

You can find most of our previous posts on the Desert Rock Power plant in this archive.

Guest Blog: Ben Luce on Why He Launched "Break The Grip!"

This is a guest blog by environmental activist Ben Luce of Break the Grip!:

For the past ten years I have tried as hard as I could to work through our existing political system, as a mostly polite and "professional" environmental advocate, to bring about policies that support renewable energy development and energy efficiency. I collaborated with the Richardson Administration and the utilities, to the extent that this was possible, to "move the ball forward" as people say. Mind you, this was not an easy process, I sometimes sparred publicly with the Administration and the utilities, and often sparred with them behind the scenes, but I mainly pursued the usual channels of lobbying politely, participating in PRC cases, etc.

We did make some progress, to be sure, getting things such as solar tax credits and stronger solar rights through, and the initial renewable energy standard and some other things. I am still very happy and proud about those things.

But I did fight many quiet wars, things were often delayed or compromised to a great extent, and I was always bothered by the pervasive and blatant undue corporate influence that I saw around me at the Legislature in general.

Then, in the recent Legislative Session, I experienced undue corporate influence to the extreme: The Richardson Administration, to my great sadness and dismay, basically teamed up with PNM to exclude citizen advocacy at all costs and try to gut the effectiveness of the new renewable energy standard, of course while making it look good for Richardson. They also tried to strip out crucial renewable energy provisions from the Renewable Energy Transmission Authority (already an extremely scary piece of legislation), and force a clean coal incentive down our throats. The Administration even had a PNM lobbyist working inside and officially representing the Administration (Art Hull), who was assigned to work on the Transmission Authority. Similarly, the clean coal incentive was forced us by a coal-industry connected LANL person named Charryl Berger, who was "on loan" to the Legislature.

Moreover, I sadly watched as the Democratic Leadership put a PNM lobbyist forward and bully citizen advocates to pass a PNM originated bill that rolls back protections for low-income people, and also try to force a $60 million tax incentive through for the Desert Rock Power Plant.

All of this obscene abuse of power was finally too much for me. After mulling it all over, and writing down my experiences over the past ten years (and storing this for safe keeping with others), I finally decided to go public about what actually happened. More than that, instead of just issuing an angry "rant" (as the Administration characterized my first press conference), I decided to launch, with other concerned citizens, a new campaign called "Break The Grip!". This will hopefully be a persistent citizens' campaign to systematically expose as much of the corporate political monopoly over New Mexico as possible, and call for a wide range of reforms.

I spent a few weeks developing the web site , which now contains much detail about the past relative to my own experiences, and we launched the campaign on Tuesday, June 19th (Tuesday being associated with the Greek God of War).

Since that time, AP coverage of the event has spread widely, including nationally, so I think we've made some impact.

We've also received tremendous support from the public: It seems that many people feel the way I do.

But we will need lots of help from the public on keeping the buzz going. We already used up a lot of publicity capital in our first press conference, so we need people to write letters-to-the-editor, join our network , etc. Don't let these guys hear the end of it!

The forces that be are already fighting back: A Richardson appointee named Gregory Green already crashed my press conference on behalf of the Administration and attempted to blunt our coverage by playing dumb about what happened during the session (he was a lobbyist for my former organization during the session), and apparently conveniently managed not to mention that he is currently a Richardson Appointee to the powerful Environmental Improvement Board. This is the kind of unethical response that needs to be countered. Who knows what else they will try? I've certainly written my fair share of embarrassing emails in the past, and I expect to start seeing them turning up in public. Do I care? Sure, things will likely be painful for me. But I'm persona non grata now anyway (at least among the corrupt! I've gotten lots of support from people on the inside too).

So, please help us rid our state of the obscene grip of corporations over our political system here in this state. Now is the time. Visit , read through the materials there, join the network, and await news of further opportunities to participate. We intend to take this campaign to the doorsteps of the powerful, and not back down.

Thanks and best wishes,
Ben Luce

Editor's Notes: This is a guest blog by Ben Luce, the former Chair and Policy Director of the New Mexico Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (CCAE). Guest blogs provide our readers with an opportunity to express their opinions on political issues, and they may or may not represent our views. 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 right-hand corner of our main page.

Click to read a previous post on the formation of Break the Grip!

Crying Wolf on Lab Funding Cuts?

I know everyone in New Mexico is supposed to be hysterical because of the U.S. House cuts to the budgets of Los Alamos and Sandia Labs totaling about $400 million. But as far as I can tell, I don't see how such cuts would result in up to 2000 layoffs at Los Alamos and 900 at Sandia, as is being bandied about. Googling around, I found that the cuts are mostly directed at reducing spending on security enhancements, computer hardware upgrades, a new chem building and funding for the controversial and much criticized Reliable Replacement Warhead and plutonium pit manufacturing programs.How do these cuts translate into that many lost jobs?

Moreover, If we look at this issue carefully, I think what the cuts really portend is a growing movement in Washington (and the nation) on both sides of the aisle to to deemphasize Cold War-era type nuke weapon spending and put more money into modern-day security in the form of clean and renewable energy technologies. If the labs -- and Domenici, Pearce and Wilson -- don't wake up and start moving quickly into the new era of global warming threat reduction and diminishing fossil fuel use, they'll have only themselves to blame.

Udall's Role
Rep. Tom Udall tried unsuccessfully to reinstate $192 million of the budget cuts, but not for the plutonium pit and Reliable Replacement Warhead programs. Instead he requested more funds for the Los Alamos high-speed supercomputer system and the stockpile stewardship programs that test the reliability of already existing bomb components without using underground blasts. Udall's amendment failed by a vote of 121-312. Sen. Domenici and Reps. Wilson and Pearce have been trying to blame the cuts entirely on Democrats -- and especially on Udall. However, 103 Republican members of Congress voted against Udall's attempt to restore lab funds:

Democrats; 24 Aye; 209 Nay; 2 Not Voting
Republicans: 97 Aye; 103 Nay; 2 Not Voting

Back to the Future
As Eric Griego writes in his latest Albuquerque Tribune column:

... could the cuts really be an opportunity? Could the proposed cuts to the labs be the impetus so desperately needed to finally change the mission of both labs to one focused on renewable energy development instead of protecting and developing nuclear weapons?

Conservationists and those who oppose continued nuclear weapons development have tried for years to redirect the mission of the state's two national labs in the direction of renewable energy. Sandia has taken on more renewable energy work over the past several years, but Los Alamos has actually deepened its nuclear mission.

Rep. Udall has been the target of a lot of often mean-spirited bashing because of the cuts, but I applaud him for refusing to attempt to reinstate the funding for the RRW and plutonium pits. It's high time we bring the core missions of our national labs into the 21st century, where renewable energy and mitigating global warming will be the key areas where we need our best scientific minds to concentrate their research. We're moving into an era of rapid and profound change, with many similiarites to the years when horse power was being replaced by the combustion engine.

At some point, you either have to face the new realities and make the switchover, or you'll pay the consequences for hanging onto a no longer relevant mindset. We'll be needing fresh ideas and a change in focus from our national labs if they are to survive and thrive in the new techology environment. Many believe the world as we know it hangs in the balance. Yes, an inconvenient truth. I had to say it.