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 electrical utility PNM and other parties signed the Public Regulation Commission’s $72 million rate hike that passed the committee on July 28, accepting less than what they had originally asked for.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and other Senate leaders said that the current unrest in Egypt shows the need for domestic oil production. Bingaman, who heads the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, noted that the unrest in Egypt is unlikely to have long-term consequences on oil.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman was cited as a reason against pulling funding for a federal-loan guarantee program according to a leaked memo from the Barack Obama administration. The Wall Street Journal reported that the memo warned against pulling the funding…
New Mexico Governor-elect Susana Martinez today named the members of her search team for cabinet members and high-ranking officials in the Environment Department and the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. The committee is chaired by Martinez’s former opponent from…
The midterm elections brought an unprecedented number of climate skeptics into Congress, with no incoming Republicans acknowledging the existence of man-made climate change. Environmentalists have all but given up on passing significant climate legislation in the near future, but in the long term, it may be difficult for climate skeptics to hold their ranks: Young Americans are significantly more concerned about global warming than older generations, and there are no major organizations of young climate skeptics.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has asked Interior Department investigators to reopen their probe into former Farmington BLM area manager Steve Henke‘s acceptance of undeclared gifts from the oil and gas firms regulated by his…
China currently controls 97 percent of production of the world’s rare earth minerals, which are used in everyday devices, such as cell phones, DVDs, televisions and satellite communication devices as well as military’s smart bombs. A mine in California could change that, if it can overcome serious environmental concerns.
Soot from commercial space flights at the New Mexico-based Spaceport America could dramatically hasten global climate change, according to a new study.
While rain will remove rocket exhaust soot from the lower atmosphere, carbon particles will remain in…
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) took no action against former Farmington District manager Steve Henke after the U.S. Interior Department’s inspector general found Henke had sought and accepted unreported gifts and donations from oil companies…
Legislators have drafted a constitutional amendment and companion legislation that would abolish the controversial Public Regulation Commission (PRC), New Mexico’s most powerful regulatory agency. The move came as a surprise to commissioners.
A group of conservation and citizen organizations served a 60-day intent to sue yesterday to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining for failing to conduct Endangered Species Act consultations prior to authorizing the renewal of an…
Sharp divisions surfaced on renewable energy and insurance rate regulation between Public Regulation Commission (PRC) candidates at an industry-sponsored candidates’ forum Wednesday, with District 4 Republican candidate Gary Montoya defending the use of coal-burning power plants while his opponent, Democrat Theresa Becenti-Aguilar, advocated more use of solar power.
New Mexico moved up eight spots over the past year to number 22 on the 2010 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard from the nonprofit and independent American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). The report provides a comprehensive assessment of policy…
Homeowners in a Santa Fe subdivision are living examples of the debate that sometimes occurs between the relative benefits of solar energy vs. disrupted views of natural vistas when the new technology comes calling, the New Mexican reports.
The…
Blaming competing demands like college midterms and the Balloon Fiesta, UNM organizers acknowledged a smaller-than-expected turnout for Sunday’s 10/10/10 “Take the Next Step” climate policy summit.
Despite live reggae and jazz music, and vendors offering pastries and locally-grown organic…
Four draft reports released Wednesday by the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling say the Obama administration was not prepared for a spill the size of the one in the Gulf, which spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the ocean. They detail the many stops and starts of the Unified Command, which was set up to organize response efforts. And they suggest that the administration sought desperately to keep the oil spill from becoming for Obama what Hurricane Katrina was for George Bush.
Stephanie DuBois has worked as a dog trainer, bookkeeper and waitress, and managed the Deming Chamber of Commerce for three years. Outgoing Land Commissioner Pat Lyons is a former legislator who has overseen the state Land Office for the past eight years. The two are competing for a seat on New Mexico’s most powerful regulatory agency, the Public Regulation Commission. And each has a different vision on how the agency should be run.
New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman has sponsored a renewable energy standard bill that would mandate 15 percent of the country’s electricity come from renewable sources like wind and solar by 2021. The proposal has been co-sponsored by 33 lawmakers, including at least four Republicans. One renewable energy advocate closely involved in efforts to move the RES who is not authorized to speak on the record says backers of the bill remains “laser-focused on the lame duck.”
I sat down with Sarah Gustavus of KUNM today to talk about Bryant Furlow’s story on the District 5 Public Regulation Commission race to be decided Nov. 2. Republican Ben Hall and Democrat Bill McCamley are competing to…
Former Republican state legislator Ben Hall and former Democratic Doña Ana County commissioner Bill McCamley both want to clean up the powerful and scandal-plagued state Public Regulation Commission. The men, who are fighting over outgoing Commissioner Sandy Jones’s District 5 seat, both told The Independent they want to see increased PRC scrutiny of utility and insurance companies’ rate hikes, and increased accountability at the PRC’s semi-autonomous Division of Insurance. But the candidates differed on how they would achieve those goals.
