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.
The bill that would create the Sabinoso Wilderness in Northern New Mexico — part of a larger wilderness bill — passed the U.S. Senate. Again. It also passed in January, but failed in the House.
In addition to establishing the Sabinoso Wilderness, the legislation would create 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states. Much of the land is in the West.
Both of New Mexico’s U.S. senators, Democrats Tom Udall and Jeff Bingaman, praised the easy passage, on a 77-20 vote.
“This legislation to protect and expand this amazing area for public us is the product of years of hard work on the local, state and federal level,” said Udall. “I want to thank Senator Bingaman for including it in his lands package, which has now passed the Senate twice, and I call on the House to pass it quickly. It is time the Sabinoso Wilderness Act became law.”
“This legislation gives Sabinoso the special attention it needs and deserves, and makes certain that it can be enjoyed by New Mexicans for years to come,” Bingaman said.
The odds in the House look good. When it failed the House, it was brought up under a rules suspension, which required two-thirds approval from the House. The bill fell two votes short. This time, the bill will need a simple majority to pass.
The New York Times’ The Caucus blog has more:
Representative Steny Hoyer, the majority leader in the House, just said that members would be voting on the bill next week, under a measure that provides for a simple majority vote. He and Representative Eric Cantor, the Republican whip, exchanged a few words on the House floor when Mr. Cantor sought to inquire as to whether the bill — in its latest incarnation — would be open for amendments.
Nope, Mr. Hoyer said. The House Democratic leadership has been trying to prevent that all along, and that’s one of the reasons the bill ran into trouble two weeks ago when they tried to get it passed under a rules suspension requiring two-thirds approval. It fell two votes short.
The main opposition came from Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn. “You put 488,000 acres into wilderness that the study areas said should never go into wilderness because they have significant oil, gas and other mineral potentials,” he told the Senate, according to Deseret News. “Parochial interests have taken over and trumped over the national energy needs of this country.”
