Uruguayan Energy: The Data is In
I’ve written about Uruguay’s energy policy in New Mexico Mercury. I talked about a policy proposed by the current progressive government, agreed to by all the political parties, and implemented by the private sector as well as the State. I explained how the comprehensive plan outlined a series of goals to be met, how by 2015 the small Latin American country would be running on 50% renewable energy sources, and how by 2030 virtually all of Uruguay’s energy needs would be taken care of by sun, wind, water and biomass from agriculture.
It sounded great. But there was little hard data to assure us the plan would work long-term. Now, at last, we have data...
The most important book of the 20th century
Well, we could argue over a couple of other non-fiction books, but Silent Spring is somewhere at the top.
The sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.
John Keats’ couplet starts this book of revelation by Rachel Carson, published in 1962; my 1994 edition has an introduction written by Vice President Al Gore. The VP says it’s a humbling experience to write about this book, because the book is undeniable proof that the power of an idea can be far greater than the power of politicians...
A love letter to New Mexico
Dear New Mexico,
No one writes letters anymore. No one ever writes to states. They should. I’m writing to you because I’ve just driven through your land, beneath your open sky, for ten days. Now that I’m back in Colorado, my belly is too empty. I miss you.
I miss you, and I’ve never taken the time to tell you how I love you.
The first time I met you, in 1998, I was twenty. I’d traveled all the way to Las Cruces because I’d fallen in love with a boy who was from there. He said he wanted to show me the desert...
Fracking Fights Loom Large in Mexico
Mexico is emerging as the next big battleground in conflicts over hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as the method of extracting natural gas is commonly known.
While Mexican lawmakers consider regulatory legislation to put into practice the 2013 energy reform that opened up their county’s oil and gas reserves to private investors, anti-fracking forces are mobilizing for a moratorium or an outright ban of the controversial practice from the Mexican Congress...
Leaving the world to find it
For a vast, remote and harsh expanse of southwestern desert, the Kaiparowits Plateau has seen a lot of life, from prehistoric Indians to migrating Mormons to adventurers that, during the Memorial Day weekend, included my son and I. Just as this seemingly inhospitable area helped save earlier travelers, so it redeemed our own trip that otherwise could have gone off the tracks. Sometimes, it would seem, you have to leave the world behind in order to find it...
Ten Reasons Why People Are Not Concerned About the Kirtland Jet Fuel Spill
In August 2013 the NM Mercury published an article of mine entitled “Why Aren’t More People in Albuquerque Concerned about the Kirtland Jet Fuel Spill?” After working on issues related to the spill for the past 10 months, I now know much more about the spill itself and have a much better idea about why most people in Albuquerque are not particularly concerned about this major threat to our drinking water.
Here are the top ten reasons...
Drought: time to pay the piper
The long 21st century drought seems finally to be catching up to the East Mountains. For years we’ve managed to avoid its worst consequences. Life has gone along, year after year, pretty much normally. But now it may be time to pay the piper.
The wells of my local water co-op are running dry. A large, well established and ably managed utility with several hundred members, it has long had four deep wells. One, however, has just run dry and another is imperiled. A letter to co-op members last week pleaded for major voluntary conservation efforts, including a total ban on outdoor watering; if these efforts are insufficient, mandatory conservation is in the offing. This is the direst situation in my 24 years with the co-op...
Juarez Valley Strives for Recovery
Travelers headed south of Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico might have noticed a full, flowing Rio Grande in recent days. The coveted water was on its way to Mexico where, under a binational 1906 treaty, the U.S. is annually obligated to deliver 74 million cubic meters of the liquid. Once past the border, the water is used for irrigating farmland in the Juarez Valley of Chihuahua state, which encompasses the municipalities of Praxedis C. Guerrero, Guadalupe Distrito Bravos and Juarez.
Long known for its fertile farmland as well as contraband corridors, the Juarez Valley was one of the hardest hit areas in the so-called Narco-War, especially between 2008 and 2010 when thousands of residents fled their homes and abandoned farm land...
What Happened to Transparency and Openness?
Less than four weeks into her term, Governor Susana Martinez had to be reminded by the New Mexico Supreme Court that, “Nobody is above the law.” The reason: the Governor had tried to prevent recently approved dairy rules, among other new environmentally protective rules, from going into effect.
The Governor’s Administration is still dodging the rules in order to help her industry friends. This time, the Administration is helping the dairy industry avoid taking common sense steps that would prevent their cows’ waste from continuing to contaminate New Mexico’s precious groundwater...
Why New Mexico’s Climate Future Has Already Been Decided – and What Can Be Done
No, the New Mexico official told me, you’re getting too far ahead of the science. Your certainty about the consequences of climate change, he cautioned me, isn’t warranted. You’ll hurt your credibility.
This official deals with water issues for our state. He was gracious enough to provide feedback on a paper I’d written in my capacity as a law student at the University of New Mexico. The paper dealt with how the state’s prior appropriation system of water law manages water shortages during drought. In writing about that subject, I had emphasized that the state faced a future of, in essence, permanent drought, and had best prepare accordingly...