City Hall launched an environmental task force on Thursday that will recommend ways for local governments and residents to address global warming.
Mayor Martin Chávez joined County Commission Chairman Alan Armijo and City Councilor Isaac Benton to announce the 35-member group, which includes representatives from Sandia National Laboratories, environmental organizations and government agencies.
Chávez said he hopes the task force will compile a “climate action plan” within six months.
The group’s plan should have value even to those who aren’t concerned about the environment, he said.
What's a climate action plan? Basically, it's a politician's sound bite that's guaranteed to cost us, the taxpayers, money and hassle.
The Federal Reserve and other regulators are planning tighter rules to stop credit card companies from unfairly raising interest rates and to make sure they give people enough time to pay their bills.
-Placing unfair time constraints on payments. A payment could not be deemed late unless the borrower is given a reasonable period of time, such as 21 days, to pay;
-Unfairly allocating payments among balances with different interest rates;
- Unfairly raising annual percentage rates on outstanding balances;
-Placing too-high fees for exceeding the credit limit solely because of a hold placed on the account;
-Unfairly computing balances;
-Unfairly adding security deposits and fees for issuing credit or making credit available;
-Making deceptive offers of credit.
This is more unnecessary regulation. Credit cards are unsecured debt. If you don't like the terms being offered, don't get a credit card. If you're not happy with the fees and penalties of one credit card company, then switch to the another. As to "deceptive offers of credit," I'm sure we already have laws that deal with fraud. If it's fraudulent, then the government should prosecute those committing fraud as opposed to creating new regulations for an entire industry.
The answer to the credit card problem is education, not regulation. Teach financial literacy to children in math classes, and then let personal responsibility trump govern behavior.
I'm a small business owner. Actually, I own two. A friend of mine told me once that he wanted to start a business because he "didn't want to spend his entire life working for the man." Like many, he wanted to be his own boss. Control his own destiny. Reap the rewards he sowed instead of creating wealth for someone else's gain.
There is only one problem with all this...
When you are your own boss, you suddenly become painfully aware of just how much of the wealth you are creating is going to the government in the form of taxes. On average, I work 12 to 16 hour days and have from day one of officially becoming an entrepreneur. Yet, thanks to our government's commitment to tax and spend, more than a third of my time is spent working to pay for bigger and bigger government.
People have been conditioned to think of taxes as simply the government collecting a portion of the money you earn. We are taught that money is the root of all evil. So, parting with it for the greater good must be a good thing.
But, that conditioning is wrong. The government is not taxing our money. The government is taxing our time. Whereas, money is of little true value. Time is priceless. Everyone has only a finite amount of time.
If I work 12 hour days, five days a week, and pay thirty percent in taxes, then one full month of my life each and every year is spent working for the government. That's one month that I don't get to use to strengthen my family, improve my community or better the world. Every year the government takes one month of my life. Every year, they take one month of yours.
Is the world better off because of it? I don't think so.
Homeowners will get a little more time before City Hall starts enforcing its new "green" building code.
But city executives aren't backing away from plans to require more energy-efficient furnaces, air conditioners and other equipment.
Albuquerque's Planning Department agreed this week to postpone enforcement of the new building code until July 1— three months later than scheduled. City officials say they're willing to consider technical amendments before then.
But minor changes may not be enough to satisfy critics who say the new code will boost the cost of replacing a heater or air conditioner by hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars.
As the owner of a 30 year old home with two thirty year old furnaces, I'd hate to be forced to spend thousands upon thousands to replace them both. Mind you, I live in a home with passive solar heating, and I also use a a very efficient wood burning stove for most of the winter. Plus, I keep the house very cool all winter. So, my furnaces hardly go on.
Is all of this because I'm worried about global warming or being green? No, it's because propane is expensive, and I'm pretty frugal in this arena. In other words, economics drives my decision, not regulation. Hmm... I'm sure there is a lesson there somewhere.
Lee and Rowley were each charged with two counts of murder in connection with the Dec. 4 killings of Tak Yi and Pung Yi at the couple's home. They remain in the Metropolitan Detention Center in lieu of $2 million cash bond each.
Integrity Program did not obtain a permit, according to the lawsuit.
The city will seek monetary damages of an unspecified amount and an injunction prohibiting the firm from soliciting here.
"All we have to show is that (Integrity Program) violated our ordinance," said Assistant City Attorney Greg Wheeler.
The proposed ordinance would allow residents to sign up for a city no-knock list, similar to the no-call list barring telephone solicitors. The city would also issue a "tasteful" sticker and yard sign homeowners could post indicating they are on the list.
"It would make it illegal to solicit a household with a no-knock sign posted," Chavéz said.
The ban would not apply to political, religious and nonprofit solicitors, such as Girl Scouts, officials said.
This is just absurd. I wonder how many business leaders got their start knocking on doors to sell a product. As I recall, when I was about twelve or thirteen, I went door to door offering to mow my neighbors lawn for a couple of bucks a week.
Uh oh, they're at it again. Governor Richardson's appointees are doing his bidding and ignoring the fact that in New Mexico it is the legislature, not appointed regulatory bodies serving at the pleasure of the Governor, that are supposed to create laws:
New Mexico became the first Intermountain state to implement the Clean Car program today after the Environmental Improvement Board voted late last night to approve the regulations that address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cars.
The program, which will become effective Jan. 1, 2008, requires car manufacturers to sell and lease vehicles that meet the standards beginning with model year 2011. The program only applies to new vehicles and will not affect new or used cars sold before that model year.
“The Clean Cars Program is a key part of our state’s effort to reduce global warming emissions to the levels necessary to avoid the worst effects of a warming planet,” said Governor Richardson. “Today’s decision by the Environmental Improvement Board means New Mexico can implement the cleanest standards for vehicle emissions in the country. New Mexico is again taking action, when Washington won’t.”
And there you have it, the Governor's reason for brushing aside the lawmaking process is so that he can have that all important sound bite for his doomed presidential campaign: "New Mexico is again taking action, when Washington won't."
Maybe that has something to do with the fact that the rest of the country is still run like a Democracy?
Regardless of where you stand on the issue of emission standards, you should be troubled by a regulatory body acting in a way that completely eliminates the legislative process. This is a very dangerous slope. The people on this body are not accountable to anyone in New Mexico other than the Governor - and he hasn't spent any significant time in New Mexico in months.
There is no deliberation involved here. There is simply one man dictating the law of the land, and single-handedly changing that law at the witching hour with little to no public input. This is just wrong. You have a Democratic Governor with a Democratic controlled legislature. If this is what is in the best interest of New Mexico, then he should put it on the Legislative agenda for the session and get it passed legally.
Before the environmentalists among you leave comments that support the Governor's mandate over the constitutional process we still have for making laws. Let me put this in another context for you. Let's take an issue like abortion that pretty evenly divides the population. Should a pro-life Governor be able to appoint a regulatory body to regulate abortion?
How supportive would those who are pro-choice react if this body some evening at midnight decided to ban abortion throughout the state? Would you be okay with the pro-life Governor's edict that:
“The Ban Abortions Program is a key part of our state’s effort to reduce the murder of the unborn to avoid the worst effects of a misguided planet,” said Governor Conservative. “Today’s decision by the Life Improvement Board means New Mexico can implement the most stringent standards for protecting the sanctity of life in the country. New Mexico is again taking action, when Washington won’t.”
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.
