Economics
N.M. environmentalists saw big gains in ‘08
A sampling of New Mexico environmental leaders cites a wide range of what they consider the biggest issues for the year that was. They include Tax Increment Development Districts, the proposed Desert Rock power plant, river otters, the destruction wrought by all-terrain vehicles in national forests and a new law allowing concealed weapons in national parks. But mostly they wanted to talk politics. Like everyone else, environmentalists were consumed by the 2008 elections and the sea change coming to the Legislature, Congress and the White House.
N.M.’s minimum wage jumps to $7.50 an hour on Friday
The state’s minimum wage will jump by $1 on Friday, going from $6.50 an hour to $7.50 an hour, Gov. Bill Richardson announced in a press release today.
“This increase will be a boost to some of New Mexico’s hardest working families, those men and women who help drive our economy,” the governor said in the [...]
Economic giants Boyle and Jones had big impact on New Mexico
In a recent story about the concept of a tax expenditure budget, I quoted a local economist who made a point of saying that New Mexico’s tax code was written by Franklin Jones and Gerry Boyle. Both men had a very significant impact on economists and finance experts in the state.
Why N.M. must still care about climate change
The economic crisis may be the big story today, but particulates formed from power plant emissions are responsible for nearly 24,000 premature deaths annually, more people than are killed by drunk drivers each year. And in New Mexico, 26 rivers and lakes currently have fish consumption advisories as a result of mercury emissions from coal plants.
TODAY’S BLOG ROUNDUP: Power, money, nukes and water — Happy Kwanzaa!
There are 15 to 20 people who’ve told Diane Denish they’re interested in the lieutenant governor job if/when Richardson is confirmed as Secretary of Commerce and Denish moves into the governor’s office, Kate Nash writes on her Green Chile Chatter blog. Nash lists some of the names we’ve all been tossing around then points at [...]
Nine reasons not to trust Ken Salazar
I am deeply troubled by many of the president-elect’s choices for his Cabinet. We’ve got an anti-family-farm, pro-Monsanto guy going to Agriculture, an inexperienced Republican hack going to Transportation and now Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar to Interior. These are not the changes we need.
Choice of Vilsack risks agribusiness as usual
Although the executive director of the Nebraska Pork Producers says former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack is “a middle-of-the-road pick,” food activists are wary of Obama’s Agriculture Secretary pick because of his support for big agribusiness, genetically modified crops and ethanol subsidies. For some perspective on the future of the Department of Agriculture in an Obama administration and what some New Mexicans are looking for in Vilsack, NMI contacted called Santa Fean Mark Winne, the author of Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty.
Lynx one step closer to endangered species protection
The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday that it has begun the process of offering endangered species protection to the Canada lynx, a big furry cat that is protected in other states. As NMI has noted, the animal was reintroduced to Colorado 1999, and since then, approximately 60 of the cats have wandered [...]
The rise of the leisure class
The leisure class, to which many Americans belong, is composed of what might be called the unaccountable, non-working wealthy. By that I don’t mean the leisured don’t have to go to work, but the kind of work they do is more akin to recreation and gaming, especially in the financial sector, than it is to labor. Most of its products are what Veblen called “non-productive.”
N.M. gives over $5B in tax breaks every year
The total amount of tax breaks on the books is larger than New Mexico’s general fund, a report says, but it’s hard to tell who’s benefiting and what to cut, thanks to a 2007 veto by Gov. Bill Richardson.