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.
A group called Freedom’s Watch is now airing radio ads attacking Democratic candidate Martin Heinrich’s stance on drilling. You can hear the ad here.
Freedom’s Watch is paying for the ads on local radio stations on behalf of Republican candidate Darren White, assuring White will be able to put his name out in front of voters even though he is sidelined with a back injury.
"Seventy percent of Americans are in favor of exploring for offshore oil," the narrator in the ad says. "Martin Heinrich says we can’t drill our way to energy independence."
The ad also claims that "A U.S. Department of Energy study said the U.S. has at least three times the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia."
According to its website, the group was created "to be the conservative voice fighting for mainstream conservative principles – today, tomorrow, and for generations to come." This is necessary, according to the group, because, it says, "For too long, conservatives have lacked a permanent political presence to do battle with the radical special interest groups and their left-wing allies in government."
The claim about three times the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia includes oil shale reserves. According to the Oil Shale & Tar Sands Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, "the cost of oil derived from oil shale has been significantly higher than conventional pumped oil."
There are also other reasons why oil shale has not been used in the United States according to the same group:
Both mining and processing of oil shale involve a variety of environmental impacts, such as global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, disturbance of mined land, disposal of spent shale, use of water resources, and impacts on air and water quality. The development of a commercial oil shale industry in the United States would also have significant social and economic impacts on local communities.
The ad also asks if Heinrich knows how much drivers in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Venezuela drivers pay for gasoline. The ad says Saudi drivers pay just 45 cents, Libyan drivers just 50 cents and Venezuelan drivers just 12 cents. The average price of gas in New Mexico is currently $3.858 per gallon, down from the record high of $4.078.
There is a reason why the gas prices are so cheap in these countries. From a CNNMoney.com article:
In many oil producing nations gas is absurdly cheap. In Venezuela it’s 12 cents a gallon. In Saudi Arabia it’s 45.
The governments there forgo the money from selling that oil on the open market — instead using the money to make their people happy and encourage their nations’ development.
Also according to the CNN Money article from May, the US ranked 44th in the world in cheapest gas prices. The article also cautions, "numbers don’t take into account different salaries in different countries, or the different exchange rates."
