Democracy for New Mexico

NM-03: Wiviott Kicks Off Tour on Easing Energy Squeeze for Families

Over the next few weeks, Don Wiviott,a  Democratic Congressional candidate in NM-03, plans an energy tour that will take him throughout the Third District. The tour kicks off today at a house party from 5:00 to 7:00 PM hosted by Jill Meyer at 512 Los Nidos, Estancia Primera, Santa Fe. All are invited to attend. He plans to travel the state on the tour in a new hybrid van (above) that is fueled by cooking oil from Santa Fe’s Flying Tortilla. Very cool.

With the price of gas hovering around three dollars and the cost of heating a home at an all time high, Third Congressional District candidate Don Wiviott said today that he would use his 30 years of experience working with energy to fight for solutions that help hardworking families get ahead.

At his event Monday, the candidate will announce that he will spend the next month touring the Third District to talk to voters about his ideas to end the energy crunch. He promised to draw on his decades of work in affordable housing and energy efficiency to help middle-class families across the Third District.

In his campaign, Wiviott said he’s heard from families across the district who are paying more for energy and in need of relief. Money these families once had for groceries or a night out is now going down the tank. In Congress, the candidate pledged to offer the new leadership Washington needs on this issue. Instead of energy plans that benefit special interests, Wiviott pledged to fight for relief for the working Americans who really need it.

“It’s no coincidence that as the price of gas has gone up, the popularity of Washington has gone down,” said Wiviott. “The Washington answer to families pinched at the pump is to line the pockets of big oil and gas. Its solution to our addiction to foreign oil is to keep consuming 21 million barrels a day. The politicians don’t get what’s happening in America, but as someone with 30 years of real experience in energy issues, I do.” 

Wiviott continued, “While politicians are out talking about solving energy challenges, I've been right here in new Mexico getting it done. Not by giving speeches, but by giving families the real solutions they need. In the last 10 years, I’ve built hundreds of middle- class homes that are energy efficient, environmentally friendly and save families money.”

Wiviott explained that his business builds homes that are good for the environment and better for the budget, because they are built with energy efficiency and recycling in mind. His homes, which are marketed to middle-class families, use technologies that save families money on their utility bills every month. Wiviott said Washington should do more to give Americans access to such technologies.

“Our projects show that with a little leadership, you can make a real difference,” said Wiviott.

At his kick-off event in Santa Fe, Wiviott will stress that energy efficiency is not just something for rich or urban Americans. In fact, rural New Mexico might have the most to gain from a smarter energy policy.

“When it comes to wind, solar and geo-thermal power, rural New Mexico has more energy than Saudi Arabia has oil,” said Wiviott. “We should use this energy as a catalyst to create jobs and opportunity where none exists today. “Imagine this rural energy economy. Instead of exporting our kids, we’ll be able to export clean energy to other regions of the United States. Instead of depending – and spending on oil from tyrants in the Middle East, we’ll be reliant on our neighbors and keeping our energy dollars here at home.”

Over the next few weeks, Wiviott plans an energy tour will take him throughout CD-03. He plans to travel the state on the tour in a new hybrid van that is fueled by cooking oil from Santa Fe’s Flying Tortilla.

Wiviott said, “When I talk about using energy to create jobs and opportunity for families, I’m not talking about an abstract, impossible challenge. I’m talking about a cause I’ve been working towards for the last thirty years. In Washington, I plan to be a vocal proponent for a comprehensive energy plan and all that it will bring, savings for families, new jobs for workers, new strategies to halt global warming and freedom from Middle Eastern oil.”

To read our previous coverage of the 2008 Congressional race in NM-03, visit our archive.

Report Says Clean Energy Better for Navajo Economic Development than Desert Rock

Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment (Diné CARE) held a press conference in Santa Fe on Friday, January 18, 2008 and released a new report that spells out a host of renewable energy alternatives to Desert Rock, a controversial coal-fired power plant proposed for the Navajo Reservation. Dine CARE and other environmental groups have argued that Desert Rock, which would be the third coal-fired plant in the Four Corners region, would harm the environment and residents' health

The comprehensive report contains more than 160 pages and dozens of maps, pie charts and graphs showing how renewable energy projects would compare to Desert Rock. It also provides a comprehensive look at how the tribe's Diné Fundamental Law—based on centuries of customary, traditional, natural and common law—can be applied to the modern problems of resource management and energy development.

Investing in renewable energy development and energy efficiency could provide more jobs and economic benefits for the Navajo Nation than building the proposed $3 billion Desert Rock Energy Project, according to the economic analysis, prepared in consultation with Ecos Consulting.

Solar power plant design prototype

The report compares sources of clean energy, such as solar and wind power, with coal, assessing economic factors such as short- and long-term employment, financial risks, environmental and health impacts, potential costs of carbon pollution, and profitability for the tribe. When the estimated economic benefits and costs of the proposed 1,500-megawatt pulverized coal power plant are weighed against benefits and costs of renewable energy development, the analysis determined that “developing clean-energy resources rather than coal provides a net economic advantage.”

“Wind, solar and energy-efficiency technologies, which are cost-effective, reliable and available, would provide greater Navajo economic development and lower cost electricity than Desert Rock, with fewer negative consequences and more sustainable benefits,” concluded Ecos Consulting co-author Chris Calwell. “Burning coal to produce electricity is not even the best, let alone the only form of economic development for the Navajo Nation.”

This claim counters the assumptions in the recent Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Desert Rock prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. The federal government’s analysis predetermined the need to use Navajo coal resources without considering alternative forms of economic development and energy resources already available to the tribe.

The report states that Northern Arizona University found potential wind capacity on tribal lands in northeastern Arizona to be over 11,000 megawatts. There's also the possibility of more than 48,000 megawatts of solar generation on Navajo land, according to the report.

Click to read the entire release.

To obtain a copy of the report by Ecos Consulting, please send an email to:

• Dailan Long, email: dailan.jake@gmail.com
• Lori Goodman, email: kiyaani@frontier.net

To keep current or to get involved in activism on this issue, visit the Desert-Rock-Blog and the website of Diné CARE.

You can find some of our previous coverage of this issue here and here, including links to additional posts and other sources of information.

Mayor Chavez Caught in the Act of "Greenwashing"

I received the video above in an email awhile back when Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez was still running for the U.S. Senate. This seems like a perfect time to post it.

Everyone's jumping on the bandwagon, pointing readers to John Fleck's excellent exposé of Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez's greenwashing that appeared in Sunday's Albuquerque Journal, so I thought I'd join the queue (so to speak). Fleck documents the inflated statistics and exaggerations that were once displayed on the City of Albuquerque website's Albuquerque Green "Q" page. Turns out that Marty's nonstop bragging about Albuquerque being the greenest metropolis in the universe (or variations thereof) was mostly hot air, like much of what he boasts about as his accomplishments. He's good at paying lip service. Unfortunately, his assertions too often often fall a little short of the truth.

Chantal over at Duke City Fix, who used to work on city cyberspace projects, provides a screen capture and useful link to the "Q" page as it once appeared before it was taken down when Fleck started poking around for the facts. Cocoposts also weighs in, and SWOPblogger features the Journal article itself. Meanwhile, Eye on Albuquerque discusses this and other examples of the Mayor's tendency to distort statistics to suit his political needs.

Aren't you glad Marty Chavez had the sense to withdraw from the New Mexico Senate race? Let's hope he has the same sense to refrain from running for Mayor again, despite his recent decision to challenge the term limits that apply to the office.

Sprawl Isn't Green
Chavez has worked hard to portray himself as a "green" mayor. Undoubtedly, Chavez has done some positive things for the environment, but there's a lingering problem that won't go away. During his tenure as mayor he's been known as the area's number one cheerleader for out of control, unregulated sprawl growth and the developers who make huge profits from it. You can't be for sprawl development and be "green," now can you?

When planned growth strategies were being debated in Albuquerque and considered by the City Council, Marty did everything he could to fight against it or to water it down. Marty became known as a fighter for developer interests, whether it was a road through the Petroglyph National Monument or a roadway situated so it destroyed a cottonwood hundreds of years old. Marty even posed in a photo op showing him jubilantly helping to cut the tree down.

Then there's his strong support for Tax Increment Financing (TIF) in the form of TIDDs designed to financially reward West Side developers for gobbling up greenfields and replacing them with sprawl, all at the taxpayers' expense. Check out our previous guest blog by Gabriel Nimms of 1000 Friends of New Mexico for more on that.

If Marty Chavez runs for Mayor again in 2009, you can rest assured he'll be facing big-time challenges on the basis of his greenwashing alone. Then there's all the other stuff ....

(Updated) Richardson Issues 6-Month Moratorium on Drilling Permits in Galisteo Basin

Bob Gallagher of the NM Oil and Gas Association and activist David Bacon discuss drilling in Santa Fe County on KNME's NM In Focus Friday

The plot thickens. On January 11, 2008, Gov. Bill Richardson announced at a press conference that he will issue an executive order that delays consideration of Galisteo basin oil and gas drilling permits by the State for six months:

"I feel that there shouldn't be drilling in the Galisteo Basin," said Richardson. He described it as a "very fragile ecosystem" and said there were concerns that drilling could affect the area's groundwater and archaeological sites.

In November 2007, a three-month moratorium on the issuance of drilling leases was enacted by the Santa Fe County Commission in response to a growing uprising by citizens and environment groups against drilling proposed by Tecton Energy of Houston. The County Commission is currently drafting a revised oil and gas drilling ordinance prompted by renewed interest in drilling in the County. The first public meeting on the proposed new law is currently scheduled for January 22, 2008, but it's unclear whether the County will now postpone the meeting due to the Governor's moratorium.

Also late last week, Rep. Tom Udall (NM-03) and Sen. Jeff Bingaman called upon Santa Fe County to hold off on issuing drilling leases until an archaeological management plan mandated by legislation they cosponsored, and which was enacted into law in March 2004, is funded and completed. They also urged the Bush adminstration's Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle, to provide the funding for the Secretary of Interior to undertake the comprehensive study of the archeological assets of the basin and to determine what actions are needed to protect them. (See my previous post.)

In response to these actions, Santa Fe County issued the following statement late Friday:

NO OIL & GAS DRILLING PERMITS CONSIDERED FOR 6 MONTHS
Santa Fe, NM – January 11, 2008 – Effective today and continuing for the next 6 months, no oil and gas drilling applications will be considered by the State. The 6 month moratorium, announced today by Gov. Bill Richardson, is put in place to allow time to ensure the protection of water, archaeological resources, and fragile ecosystems in the Galisteo Basin. 

Santa Fe County will be working closely with the State Oil Conservation Division during this time as it continues to work on an oil and gas drilling ordinance. County officials are currently considering the ramifications of the announcement. More information regarding next steps, possible hearing cancellations, and a new ordinance schedule will be available next week.

For more background on this issue, visit the websites of Drilling Santa Fe and Santa Fe Not Oil. Also check out the video at the top of this post of Friday's New Mexico In Focus show (episode 119) on KNME that featured a spirited discussion about oil and gas drilling in Santa Fe County with activist David Bacon and Bob Gallagher, President of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, moderated by host David Alire Garcia. Don't miss it.

Environmental Alliance of NM Announces 2008 Legislative Agenda

Javier Benavidez of Conservation Voters New Mexico
speaks at press conference at Rio Grande bosque

From Conservation Voters New Mexico:
Representatives of over a dozen environmental organizations convened a news conference on Friday afternoon, January 11, 2008, in Albuquerque to announce a 2008 legislative package aimed at addressing the State of New Mexico’s environment, energy, water, and outdoor education policy. The Environmental Alliance of New Mexico, an informal coalition of environmental organizations facilitated by Conservation Voters New Mexico, announced four priority legislative measures. Though this year’s legislative session will be a short, 30-day session focusing on state budget matters, each of the alliance’s priority bills will be on the legislative agenda because they are germane to state budgeting or because they are anticipated to be on the “Governor’s call.” The bills include:

• the “Leave No Child Inside Act,” a bill seeking to generate revenue for an outdoor educational programming fund through a 1% excise tax (a “sin” tax) on the purchase of new televisions and video games

• the “Ratepayer Protection Act,” a bill requiring regulated electric utilities to meet 10% of their energy demand with energy efficiency by 2020 instead of building new power plants (which are more expensive than efficiency). The bill will also encourage the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission to allow energy efficiency programs to be as profitable to New Mexico utilities as power plants are.

• a “Smart Investments in Public Buildings” policy to ensure a 50% energy saving throughout the life of new and retrofitted public buildings through a 1-2% initial investment in the “sustainable” or “green” design of each public building

• a one-time funding request of $10 million for Statewide Ecosystem Restoration that will facilitate efforts to restore New Mexico’s fragile and iconic river ecosystems, including funding for water flows, technical studies and community outreach.

Gail Ryba, NMCCAE

"This alliance represents over 30,000 New Mexican voters who care about protecting our air, land, water, wildlife and communities,” said Sandy Buffett, Executive Director of Conservation Voters New Mexico and the Conservation Voters of New Mexico Education Fund.

The four priority bills of the Environmental Alliance of New Mexico (click for Fact Sheet) are the result of an annual “common agenda” process in which environmental organizations come together to develop a cohesive environmental policy agenda for consideration by the annual state legislative session. In addition to the measures mentioned above, Conservation Voters New Mexico will be monitoring any potential “environmental rollbacks” of policy gains made in previous years and will work to defend against such regressive measures.

Organizations involved in the Environmental Alliance of New Mexico include: 1000 Friends of New Mexico, Animal Protection Voters, Amigos Bravos, Audubon New Mexico, Conservation Voters New Mexico, Defenders of Wildlife, Dooda Desert Rock, Environment New Mexico, New Mexico Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy, New Mexico Environmental Law Center, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, The Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy, and the World Wildlife Fund.

For more information, please contact Sandy Buffett, Executive Director of Conservation Voters New Mexico, at 270-5743.

Click for contact information for your legislators.

Bingaman & Udall Urge Funding of Galisteo Basin Study, Ask County to Delay Leases

The Santa Fe County Commission will hold its first public hearing on their proposed new oil and gas drilling ordinance on January 22, at 3:00 PM in Santa Fe Community College’s Jemez room. A second public hearing is set for February 12 at 6:00 PM in the County Commission chambers.

In the meantime, two of New Mexico's members of Congress are working on another aspect of protecting New Mexico's unique treasures from potential damage from Tecton's proposed drilling in the Galisteo Basin, and have issued this statement:

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman and Representative Tom Udall are pressing the Bush administration for funding to produce an archaeological management plan for the Galisteo Basin, which is home to the largest ruins of Pueblo Indian settlements in the United States, spectacular examples of Native American rock art, and ruins of Spanish colonial settlements.

Simultaneously, the lawmakers have asked the Santa Fe County Commission to delay the issuance of drilling leases in the area until the management plan is completed.

In a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle, Bingaman and Udall cite the Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act, legislation they sponsored, which became Public Law No: 108-208 on March 19, 2004.  Their legislation requires the Secretary of Interior to undertake a comprehensive study of the archeological assets of the basin and to determine what actions are
needed to protect them. 

In their letter to Nussle, the lawmakers said, "We included this language because we know we have only just begun to take stock of all the prehistoric and historic archeological resources in this area yet they are constantly under threat of ruin by natural causes, urban development, vandalism, and uncontrolled excavations."

Bingaman and Udall expressed their deep concern that nearly four years after their legislation was enacted no funds have been proposed or released to recommend new areas for protection or to develop a management plan. They pressed Nussle to adequately fund the study, as directed by law, in fiscal year 2009.

In a separate letter to Santa Fe County Commissioners, Bingaman and Udall also urge the Santa Fe County Commission to "delay issuing leases for any activities, such as exploration or drilling, that have the clear potential to permanently disturb or destroy irreplaceable historic artifacts in the Galisteo Basin."

Text of the letters to both Director Nussle and the Santa Fe County Commission are included below.

Jim Nussle
Director, Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20503

Dear Director Nussle,

We are writing with regard to the Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act, which became Public Law No: 108-208 on March 19, 2004. This law was written to help protect the many well preserved prehistoric and historic archaeological resources of Native American and Spanish colonial cultures found in the Galisteo Basin of New Mexico.

This law mandates that the Secretary of the Interior shall continue to search for additional Native American and Spanish colonial sites in the Galisteo Basin area and, within three years of funding being made available, make recommendations for additions to, deletions from, and modifications of the boundaries of the list of archaeological protection sites in the Act. We included this language because we know we have only just begun to take stock of all the prehistoric and historic archeological resources in this area yet they are constantly under threat of ruin by natural causes, urban development, vandalism, and uncontrolled excavations. The Secretary is further directed by the Act to, within three years of funding being made available, develop a management plan to provide for the identification, research, protection, and public interpretation of sites in the Basin.

We are deeply concerned that, to date, no funds have been proposed for either of these purposes. The threats remain, and these invaluable resources continue to degrade. We ask that as you prepare the budget for Fiscal Year 2009 you include adequate funding to commence the investigation, cataloguing and preservation of the uniquely North American archeological treasures in the Galisteo Basin of New Mexico.

Thank you very much for your prompt consideration of our request.

Santa Fe County Commission
102 Grant Avenue
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

Dear Commissioners:

In 2004, we sponsored and passed into law the Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act because many well preserved prehistoric and historic archaeological resources of Native American and Spanish colonial cultures were found in the Galisteo Basin and the surrounding area, but were yet to be fully identified and protected. These resources, in large part unique to New Mexico, include the largest ruins of Pueblo Indian settlements in the United States, spectacular examples of Native American rock art, and ruins of Spanish colonial settlements. Over time, it was becoming evident that these invaluable resources were being threatened by decay and erosion, urban development, vandalism, and uncontrolled excavations.

The law states that the Secretary of the Interior must continue to search for additional Native American and Spanish colonial sites in the Galisteo Basin area and, within three years of funds being made available, make recommendations for additions to, deletions from, and modifications of the boundaries of the list of archaeological protection sites. Additionally, the Secretary is directed to prepare a general management plan for the identification, research, protection, and public interpretation of the archaeological protection sites located on federal land and for sites on state or private lands for which the Secretary has entered into cooperative agreements.

The identification and development of plans for the protection of the wealth of historic artifacts that exist in this area is still in its early stages. Accordingly, we ask you to delay issuing leases for any activities, such as exploration or drilling, that have the clear potential to permanently disturb or destroy irreplaceable historic artifacts in the Galisteo Basin. We will continue to work to secure the federal funding necessary to complete these surveys.

We thank you for your consideration.
**************
For more info on these issues, visit these websites:

• Drilling Santa Fe
• Santa Fe Not Oil

Also see our previous post, which contains links to older posts and other sources of info.

(Updated) Tonight's NM In Focus: Galisteo Basin Drilling, Richardson Prez Campaign

UPDATE 1/14/08: You can see video of Friday's show by visiting my subsequent post on this controversial issue.
***************

You can tune into this week's New Mexico In Focus on KNME public television tonight at 7:00 PM, with a repeat airing on Sunday at 6:30 AM. The In Focus segment of the show will take a hard look at the future of oil and gas drilling in New Mexico and the latest battleground in the fight over this precious resource: the Galisteo Basin. David Alire Garcia sits down with David Bacon, energy consultant, advocate and former Green Party candidate for the PRC, and Bob Gallagher, President of the New Mexico Oil and Gass Association, for a look at an industry that brings in millions of dollars per year to the state, but is under pressure by many who want tighter regulations to minimize or eliminate environmental threats posed by increased drilling.

Also, host Gene Grant and The Line panel will be discussing Gov. Bill Richardson's withdrawal as a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination and the highlights and lowlights of his campaign, as well as the upcoming legislative session. Guest panelists include New Mexico bloggers Mario Burgos and Heath Haussamen, and John Wertheim, former New Mexico Democratic Party chairman.

NM Mining Claims Jump: Officials Urge Reform Legislation

Proposed oil and gas drilling in Santa Fe County has prompted a citizen uprising in New Mexico, but increases in other kinds of claims to exercise mineral rights are also being challenged. Yesterday a press conference was held in Albuquerque about the need for reforming the 1872 federal mining law with participation from the Haaku Tribal Water Office/Acoma  Pueblo, Dine Against Uranium Mining, Conservation Voters New  Mexico, New Mexico Wilderness  Alliance, and Environment New Mexico. Here's their statement about this pressing issue and what needs to be done to safeguard the integrity of Western lands and communities and require that mining companies pay a fair share of royalties on their profits to taxpayers:

Albuquerque, N.M. – In the face of dramatic increases in new mining claims in New Mexico, state and county officials called on Senators Jeff Bingaman and Pete Domenici, leaders of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, to reform the 135-year-old law that governs the mining of gold, uranium and other hardrock minerals on federal lands in New Mexico and other western states.

A comprehensive bipartisan package that would modernize the Civil War era statute was passed by the House of Representatives in November. The Senate will host its first mining reform hearing this month.

“This year, New Mexico will take center stage in the effort to reform the 1872 Mining Law,” said Gregory Greene of the Pew Campaign for Responsible Mining. “Senators Bingaman and Domenici can play a lead role in protecting  the health of New Mexico’s communities, lands, water and wildlife by producing a modern framework for mining that protects taxpayers and the environment. We all have a stake in their success.”

The 1872 mining law, signed by President Ulysses S. Grant, offers special status to those filing claims on public lands -– without safeguarding watersheds, wildlife or communities from the messy business of mining. It also allows mining companies to take minerals from public lands without compensating taxpayers, while oil, gas and coal industries have been paying royalties for decades. 

New Mexico has had a significant share of mining-related disasters. In 1979, 94 million gallons of radioactive, acidic mine tailings spilled into the Rio Puerco. The release from the site, promoted as a modern and safe treatment facility, is the largest release of liquid radioactive waste in U.S. history. Thirty years later, the impacts of that spill still linger.

The need for reform has also been made more urgent by the dramatic increase in new mining claims in western states, including New Mexico. According to Bureau of Land Management data analyzed by the Environmental Working Group, the total number of hardrock mining claims in New Mexico is 50 percent higher in mid-2007 than in 2003. Claims totaled 11,348 in July of 2007. 

“The state of New Mexico has a stake in federal mining law reform,” said Bill Brancard, Director of New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division. “While the state has created significant safeguards for water, we needs federal mining law reform that includes resource protection and a reasonable royalty.

“We’ve shown that you can have stringent protections for mining yet still have a viable, productive mining industry,” said Brancard.

“Counties have a stake in mining reform,” said Deanna Archuleta, Bernalillo County Commissioner. “We're dealing with an antiquated law where the taxpayers are left with the clean-up, and it's a financial burden on everybody for a few to make a profit. We ask Senators Bingaman and Domenici to take this opportunity to take the lead at reform at the federal level.”

“Sportsman have a stake in mining reform,” said Kent Salazar, president of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. “Our public lands are the source of our best fishing, elk hunting and wildlife habitat, and we pay user fees to hunt and fish. It's time the industry also paid its own way, and took on the cost of mine cleanup.”

On January 24, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hear testimony about the need for mining law reform and is expected to produce a bill by late February. The hearing follows passage late last year of H.R. 2262, which provided fundamental reform measures.

To contact New Mexico's U.S. Senators about this issue click:

• Sen. Pete Domenici
• Sen. Jeff Bingaman

1/11/08: Join Peaceful March Against Santa Fe County Drilling

12/8/07 march. Photo credit: Tony Bonanno

From Drilling Santa Fe:
On Friday, January 11th, a twilight march to protest oil and gas drilling and exploration in Santa Fe County will begin at 5:30 PM from the park by the U.S. Courthouse at Washington and Federal Place, then proceed to the Santa Fe Plaza. Dr. Jerry Held has obtained a permit and suggests bringing torches, flashlights and candles. For more information email drillingsantafe@earthlink.net.

Dr. Held, who is concerned about the long term health effects upon our Santa Fe County citizens from the possibility of oil and gas activity in the County, also organized a peaceful march to the Plaza on December 8th. Tony Bonanno Photography has photographs of the December 8th march. (Tony has given permission for free downloading and use of the pictures.) Related sites: Our Stolen Future and NRDC Endocrine Disruptors.

Cancelled: Tonight's Public Meeting on Oil & Gas Drilling Ordinance

Due to a winter storm on the way, the Santa Fe Board of County Commissioners has cancelled the public meeting scheduled for tonight on the proposed oil and gas drilling ordinance. Drilling Santa Fe has the news.