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 Republican Party, from the state to the national level, has revealed one of its talking points in trying to defeat Congressman Harry Teague, a Hobbs Democrat, and recapture the seat which had been in Republican hands for decades.
Teague’s vote on the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act of 2009 has become a lightning rod for many Republicans.
Today, after a visit by U.S. Energy Department Secretary Steven Chu which included a fundraising event with Teague, the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) sent out a letter calling Chu a “radical global warming activist.”
Chu was confirmed by unanimous consent in the Senate on January 20, the same day that Barack Obama was sworn in as President.
The New Mexico Republican Party sent out a press release ahead of Chu’s visit. Chu was joined by Van Jones, a special advisor for green jobs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and he also drew criticism from the New Mexico Republican Party.
The press release began:
In an attempt to shore up liberal support after Teague’s conservative constituents took him to task for supporting a national energy tax which will drive up costs for hardworking New Mexico families, the freshman representative is chairing an energy conference, today and tomorrow, headlining two prominent global warming activists and Obama appointees, Steven Chu and Van Jones.
Both national and state Republicans referenced a Politico blog post where Teague said of global warming, “I don’t know if I believe in it or not. I am not a scientist.”
Former U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, who previously held the seat before an unsuccessful run for Senate in 2008, cited Teague’s vote for the ACES legislation in his decision to attempt to recapture his seat.
“Harry Teague chose to vote for the job-killing cap and trade bill. If this bill becomes law, it will devastate jobs in New Mexico and further cripple the American economy,” Pearce wrote in his press release announcing his candidacy.
Clearly, Republican leaders both in New Mexico and Washington are trying to paint Teague as an environmental extremist.
