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.
CO2 is Green, a group founded by coal, oil and gas interests, has begun airing ads in New Mexico and Montana, aiming to fend off cap-and-trade legislation, the Guardian reports. The ad urges viewers to contact their congressmen; New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman, D-Silver City, is the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The Guardian explains the reasoning behind the ads:
The ultimate aim of the advert, though, is to derail the forthcoming vote in the Senate on the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, which now appears as if it might even impact on vital UN climate talks in Copenhagen this December.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had jurisdiction to regulation carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and earlier this year, the Obama administration announced it would regulate carbon dioxide emissions.
As for the ad itself, The Guardian can’t take it seriously.
The advert is ripe for spoofing. It’s certainly tempting to laugh it off. (For extra merriment, visit the “CO2 is green” website and read the “Why do people believe these myths?” section: “They have been misinformed by people that benefit financially from propagating the myth.” Oh, the irony.)
The Washington Post reported on the backgrounds of the founders of this new group.
Corbin Robertson Jr., the Washington Post writes, is the “chief executive of and leading shareholder in Natural Resource Partners, a Houston-based owner of coal resources that lets other companies mine in return for royalties.” Robertson, according to the Houston Business Journal, “is said to own more coal through his various ventures than anyone outside of the U.S. government.”
H. Leighton Steward, Forbes says his profile, “is former Chairman of the U.S. Oil and Gas Association and the Natural Gas Supply Association, and is currently an honorary director of the American Petroleum Institute.” The Guardian also reports that Steward “was the vice chairman of Burlington Resources, a Houston-based oil and gas company bought by ConocoPhillips in 2006. ”
In other words, the group was founded by oil and coal executives with vested interests in curtailing any restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions.
Robertson donated money to Bingaman this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Here is the video:
