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 average price of gasoline hit another milestone Tuesday, when it reached $4 per gallon statewide.
According to AAA, regular unleaded gasoline now averages $4.005 per gallon statewide.
In Albuquerque the average price of gasoline is $3.904. Las Cruces gasoline is at $3.954 on average. And gas prices in the capital city of Santa Fe average $4.016 per gallon.
Politicians in the state have not ignored the price of gas and its effect on their constituents or possible constituents.
U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, who is the Republican nominee for the open Senate seat, introduced a bill earlier this month that would, according to a press release from his office, reduce fuel prices.
The bill would "remove[] moratoriums on exploration of our deep water resources in the outer Continental Shelf and allows for developing resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska," according to the press release. "A portion of the royalties from leasing these areas will go to set up Alternative Energy Trust Fund that will fund investments in non-traditional and renewable energy such as wind, solar, hydrogen, geothermal, and biomass, among others. "
Democrats have often responded as Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., did when he was quoted earlier this month in the Boston Globe. "It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out you can’t drill yourself out of the problem," Nelson told reporters on a conference call organized by the Obama campaign. "You have to turn to alternative fuels."
A national environmental group is highlighting high gas prices and blaming Pearce with a giveaway of a hybrid car. “With New Mexicans paying $4 for a gallon of gas, we can no longer accept politicians who look out for the interests of big oil rather than those of the average citizen," Defender of Wildlife Action Fund New Mexico campaign manager Ed Yoon said in a statement. "Steve Pearce is simply wrong for New Mexico.”
For his part, Steve Pearce says it is his opponent, Tom Udall, who is making gas prices higher. A press release from the Pearce campaign said earlier this month:
In an Interior Appropriations Subcommittee markup this afternoon, Rep. Udall voted against language that would have opened the door for responsible deep-sea production and given access to large untapped reserves of America’s oil and gas. Investments in our domestic supply would aid in meeting demand and lower the price of gas.
AAA calls its gas survey the "most comprehensive retail gasoline survey available" and tracks the price of gasoline nationwide. Nationwide, gasoline costs $4.087 per gallon on average. The highest gas prices in the nation belong to Alaska, where the average price is $4.63 per gallon. The cheapest prices belong to South Carolina, where the price is $3.87 per gallon on average.
John Fleck of the Albuquerque Journal writes about more possible bad news on the gas price front.
In other bad news, oil is trading up again this morning ($142.61 on the New York Mercantile Exchange as I write this).
