A new survey finds that 59% of New Mexico voters support increased access to domestic oil and natural gas resources.
It seems that the rest of the country shares the same view. Polls from Pew, CNN, Zogby and others indicate that the majority of Americans from coast to coast are in support of more energy exploration in the United States.
This is a critical shift in public opinion, and one that our leaders in Washington need to recognize. According to federal government data, the United States has enough oil to fuel more than 65 million cars for 60 years and enough natural gas to heat 60 million homes for 160 years. But current policies restrict access to 85% of the outer continental shelf and 83% of onshore federal lands.
If Congressman Udall is elected to the Senate, you can be sure that he will stay true to his record of doing everything in his power to restrict access to offshore oil and gas as well as that which can be found on federal lands. Even worse, if Martin Heinrich is elected to Congress, Tom Udall will have an ally in ignoring the needs of the majority of everyday New Mexicans.
They'll be living high on the hog off our tax dollars. What do they care about the pain we're feeling at the pump? It's easy to be an environmentalist supporting higher energy costs when you're pulling down a six-figure income paid for by taxpayers.
No matter which side you are on with regard to the War on Terror, most everyone can agree that terrorists have no place in a civil society. That's why I find it very troubling that Martin Heinrich, candidate for New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, has a long history of accepting campaign funds from self-described EcoTerrorists.
If you've got some time watch this video of Earth First co-founder, Dave Foreman, taken eleven years ago.
Biography A former environmental lobbyist and Sierra Club board member who became disillusioned with the democratic process, Dave Forman founded the notorious "direct action" environmental organization Earth First! Foreman declared that "Earth First! is a warrior society," and under his leadership the group has engaged in arson, violent assault, and vandalism of all kinds. Foreman is the author of Eco-Defense: A Field Guide to Monkey Wrenching. As the name suggests, the book is an instruction manual for illegal sabotage and how to get away with it. Foreman's "Confessions of an Eco-Warrior" justifies his life of zealotry by stating: "We humans have become a disease -- the Humanpox."
Foreman pled guilty to conspiracy after he was accused of providing the funds to blow up power lines leading to and from a nuclear power plant. Foreman wrote a check to buy grenades. Foreman left Earth First! in 1989 and founded the Wildlands Project, which seeks to restrict human civilization to limited patches of the Earth and wall off the rest for nature to rule. From 1995 to 1998 he served on the Sierra Club's board of directors. He is presently the publisher of Wild Earth, the periodical of the Wildlands Project.
Background Founder, Earth First!; Founder; Wildlands Project; Author, Eco-Defense: A Field Guide to Monkey Wrenching and Confessions of an Eco-Warrior
Everyone knows that Martin Heinrich is an environmentalist, but Earth First! is not just about preserving open space and being ecologically sensitive. These folks, with whom Martin Heinrich has a longstanding relationship, believe that the "human race is a disease" and they advocate terrorists acts against hard-working Americans.
Lest, you think Ms. Morton is not as radical as her husband watch this video, or better yet, go straight to the three minute mark and watch what happens to mill workers when somebody spikes a tree. Immediately following the mill supervisor's explanation, Nancy Morton shows little concern for the mill employees, because in her own words they're "guilty parties in the destruction of the forest."
I think Martin Heinrich has some explaining to do. On his website Heinrich ranks "protecting the environment" as one of his top issues. Does he also believe that folks that work in mills are "guilty"? Does he believe hard-working people in the construction industry are guilty? Would he sanction endangering the lives of oil workers who are trying to feed their families?
Just how far is Martin Heinrich willing to go to protect the environment? Apparently far enough to get EcoTerrorists Dave Foreman and Nancy Morton to open their wallets.
Western environmentalists are suing the federal government, claiming promises by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to whittle down a backlog of plants and animals being considered for endangered species protection amount to "smoke and mirrors" and hundreds of species need protection now.
WildEarth Guardians alleges Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, who oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service, has failed to act on petitions seeking protection for 681 species across a dozen western and midwestern states.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., contends many of the species - ranging from butterflies and snails to grasshoppers and cactus - could face extinction if action isn't taken.
"In a world that's bombarded by climate change, pollution, habitat destruction and human over-population, clearly few of our rare species are going to be secure in the long term," Nicole Rosmarino, director of WildEarth Guardians' wildlife program, said Monday. "That's the basis for the petition."
I'm glad Ms. Rosamarino just lumped "climate change, pollution, habitat destruction and human over-population" all together. Those are all buzzwords which in the grand scheme of things mean absolutely nothing, but give certain people a reason for being.
[Side Note: Ok, on that last link I'm reaching a bit, but I thought the site was pretty funny (hat tip: NewMexiKen) and although the blogger hasn't done a post on these buzzwords, I'm sure it is not too far off in the future.]
Sometimes, you just got to shake your head and wonder if these people have ever looked back over the history of the world. It seems to me that huge numbers of species have come and gone (think dinosaurs) without the earth coming to an end. I'm sure the world as we know it will not come to an end if we have one less species of butterflies, snails, grasshoppers or cactus on the planet.
“Rural communities need both livestock and ethanol production,” says Lawrence, who was also a key BQS presenter. But livestock production is worth more jobs.
According to studies at Iowa State University, using a 50-million-gal. ethanol plant as an example, 18.5 million bu. of corn are required. The plant accounts for 35 workers directly, as well as 98 created and induced jobs, or 133 jobs all together. Funnel that same amount of corn through a feedlot, and you're talking 140 jobs before considering the employment created further downstream in packing and processing.
“Ethanol production is a low-labor business; livestock production is a high-labor business,” Lawrence says.
All of these changes are occurring because the government has embraced the idea that the world is warming. Now, for the global warming irony:
Some 3,000 scientific robots that are plying the ocean have sent home a puzzling message. These diving instruments suggest that the oceans have not warmed up at all over the past four or five years. That could mean global warming has taken a breather. Or it could mean scientists aren't quite understanding what their robots are telling them.
This is puzzling in part because here on the surface of the Earth, the years since 2003 have been some of the hottest on record. But Josh Willis at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the oceans are what really matter when it comes to global warming.
In fact, 80 percent to 90 percent of global warming involves heating up ocean waters. They hold much more heat than the atmosphere can. So Willis has been studying the ocean with a fleet of robotic instruments called the Argo system. The buoys can dive 3,000 feet down and measure ocean temperature. Since the system was fully deployed in 2003, it has recorded no warming of the global oceans.
Read that last sentence again, "Since the system was fully deployed in 2003, it has recorded no warming of the global oceans." This coming from a report on National Public Radio - not exactly a beacon of conservatism.
Maybe instead of "thank you," the folks who have just checked out your groceries should say "sorry."
Not that it's their fault your food bill is wiping out your movie money and vacation fund. Checkers are also spending 37 percent more on eggs and 29 percent more on milk than they did a year ago. Industry watchers are saying 80 percent of grocery prices are likely to rise and stay high for years.
Moms are reporting they're cutting their children's milk consumption.
Elaine Martinez had just finished her shopping at Lowe's Super Save at Lomas and 12th. She considers herself lucky that her 4-year-old, Christopher, likes healthful foods, but he can't have as much as he used to.
"It's awful to tell him he can't have milk; he has to have water," she said. "It's not something as a mother I want to say to my child."
Now if you didn't read this whole article until the end, you might think this would be an article about economic recession. You know, something that Democrats might try to blame on the Republicans, but it's not.
But corn is also a factor. It used to be food for humans and cattle. Now a lot of it is used for corn-derived ethanol to replace gasoline. Fields previously devoted to wheat, soy beans and corn for human consumption are producing corn for ethanol.
The next time you hear a candidate running on their environmental record and telling you how important it is that we use alternative sources of fuel for our vehicles, I hope you picture a 4-year old boy like Christopher who has to drink water instead of milk.
I was born a New Yorker and have lived in more places than I can count on one hand. My wanderings included a total of more than two years in Ecuador and nine years in California. The latter being significant as that is where I met the love of my life. Of course, she determined that our progeny would be the tenth generation of her family to be raised in New Mexico. So, this is where my roots will grow long.
