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.
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund is spending $125,0000 on a second TV ad attacking former GOP Congressman and current candidate Steve Pearce as “one of the most corrupt members of Congress.” Pearce, the ad says, took campaign contributions from companies that use the toxic chemical methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) (including Exxon Mobil, Valero Energy, Chevron Texaco and BP)—then voted not to hold them liable for water pollution related to the chemical.
Although KOAT decided to pull a previous ad from the conservation group ad after complaints from Pearce, at least five other networks continued to air it. Pearce is running against freshman Democrat Harry Teague, who also has a background in the oil and gas industry.
MTBE is a chemical that refineries add to gas to make it burn more cleanly, but it can also contaminate groundwater and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies it as a possible carcinogen. According to Defenders of Wildlife, Pearce, who represents a part of New Mexico dominated by the oil and gas industry, has taken over $140,000 from companies that use MTBE.
The ad also recounts Pearce’s sale of his oil and gas company—at a high profit—to a company that had lobbied him in Congress.
In 2008, Defenders Action Fund spent $500,000 to help elect Democratic Sen. Tom Udall.
Here’s some more information on MTBE from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
