I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
There is little debate about climate change anymore (not counting Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe or conservative columnist George Will). But the question is, what effects will it have on the Land of Enchantment?
According to a study from the University of Oregon (via John Fleck), it will have significant financial costs to New Mexico — up to $3.2 billion annually by 2020. But that increases to $18.4 billion per year by 2080.
And the scary thing is that one of the people who led the study, University of Oregon economist Bob Doppelt, says that there isn’t much we can do to change this in the short term.
From Fleck’s story:
Doppelt acknowledged that most of the effects described in the study for 2020 would happen no matter how successful greenhouse gas reduction efforts are because of climate change already under way. But the greater effects identified for later in the century could be lessened by an effective greenhouse gas reduction effort, he said.
The study notes that it is limited in scope and “does not address all the potentially important effects of climate change on New Mexico’s economy. Moderate warming might have some positive economic effects for some New Mexicans, by boosting the output of some farmers, for example, or allowing some recreational activities to occur earlier in the spring and later in the autumn.”
Before people start jumping on the “warming is good” bandwagon, however, they should continue reading the report.
Economic costs would arise from undesirable changes in climate, ecosystems, or both. Higher temperatures would increase the incidence of heat-related health problems, for example, and ecosystem changes would reduce summertime stream flows. These and similar changes would impose economic costs on New Mexico’s families, businesses, and communities. In addition, New Mexicans would incur costs as they engage in practices that contribute to climate change, such as consuming electricity generated by burning coal and continuing with technologies and practices that waste energy.
