Compilation of last weeks posts focusing on expansion of NM Nuclear waste dumping, toxic produced water bill hailed by Egolf, and evidence of state energy bills being part of industry-led, nationwide coordinated effort, plus video introducing module 3 of Toward Commonwealth.
A Weekend with San Juan Activists. We had an inspiring weekend visit to Farmington, beginning on Friday with a two hour meeting with Duane Chilli Yazzie in a conversation that was more spiritual than political. Yazzie has been the Shiprock Chapter President for decades and we were deeply moved by his perspective and his persistence. On Saturday and Sunday we met with 30+ members of the Farmington chapter of Indivisible in a retreat that included representatives from Indivisible chapters from Durango, Angel Fire, Corrales, Aztec, and Santa Fe, Two of the three Aztec City Council members who voted to protect and support recently passed gun violence prevention bills from 2nd Amendment “Sanctuary” resolutions, described the City Council debate and vote last week where gun toting NRA supporters unsuccessfully pressed for the council to vote for the sanctuary resolution. It was good to see that even in a largely conservative oil and gas town, there were so many active progressives raising their voices. It was also heartening to hear how many of these folks relied on the Retake Rapid Response Network to keep informed and to raise their voices throughout the Roundhouse session. We look forward to many more visits with activists groups throughout the state.
Preview of Tomorrow’s Blog. In tomorrow’s blog we will provide analysis of a study on how a good deal of state legislation is generated and it is not pretty. It shows how insidiously industry lobbyists craft copycat legislation or copycat language and create the conditions under which the capitalist system can most effectively advance their aims: profit, profit and profit. It will help us understand better what was at work, for example, with HB 546 and SB 489 in the NM 2019 Legislative Session.
Chainbreaker Collective Presentation at City Council. Wednesday, April 10, 5pm. Please attend if possible! This Wednesday evening at the City Council meeting (hopefully at 5pm – but will send a better time estimate as soon as we know) Chainbreaker Collective and a group of local, allied groups will be announcing the start of the People’s Plan for the Heart of Santa Fe. The Peoples Plan is the work of the Alliance to promote equity in our community and equity regarding plans for SFUA&D. I’ve confirmed that Chainbreaker is not on the agenda because they are going to utilize the public comment at the beginning of the meeting to introduce their plan. So please make plans for 5pm on Wednesday. You should be done by 6pm…. So different from the Roundhouse Hearings.A Review of Last Week’s Posts
Holtec Plans for Growing NM’s Role as the Nuclear Waste Dump for the US
Ferlinghetti’s Pity the Nation will send chills through your spine as it anticipates a Trump-like leader ten years before he even emerged as a political figure. Prescient. Naomi Klein’s video describes perfectly how the corporatocracy is using disaster to privatize our future, and then there is Holtec. Finally, NM’s chance to be first in something: toxic nuclear waste storage. The inclusion of Klein’s 16 minute video and Ferlenghetti’s clairvoyant poem is reason enough to check this blog out. Click here to read the full post.
Intriguing Evidence that NM Has Bought into a Nationwide Legislative Energy Agenda & Not in a Good Way
In VA, the Governor is about to sign off on a utility bailout, double paying for infrastructure improvements that should be paid by shareholders, with legislators saying we can’t the perfect be the enemy of the good and Colorado Xcel is using the label “carbon free” RPS as a mantle for slowing transition to renewables with investment in gas. Does any of this sound familiar? Click here to read the full post.
HB 546 the “Produced Water Bill” Signed by Governor. Speaker Egolf Claims it to be the Greatest Environmental Bill in History. If That Is True It is a Very Sad History Indeed
Dems go to war to regulate gas and oil. NOT. The post focuses on SB 546, the “produced” water bill, the bill amended at 3am on the last day of the session with 9 minutes of debate. Amazing what can get done when you have NM Gas & Oil Assoc.pushing. Sen. JA Smith introduces the state budget bill with “Drill Baby, Drill.” We have a very long way to go, my friends.Speaker Egolf’s post session press conference essentially laid bare how NMOGA had nothing to fear from the 2019 Legislature. To make that clear, we review eight very good bills for our environment that all stalled in one Democratic Party led committee or another.Taken together, it is clear who ran this session and what we need to do to ensure things run differently in 2021 Click here for the full post.
Categories: Climate Change, Agriculture, Land Use and Wildlife
Brian Egolf is a lawyer for the fracking industry. If you expect a lawyer to go against his own self interest, then you know little about the legal system in this country, or Brian Egolf.
Several years ago, when Aubrey Dunn (a Republican) was State Land Commissioner, Egolf represented GUS H2O, a company that wanted to sell clean potable water to the fracking industry, while Dunn was trying to stop it. “I am disappointed that State Representative Egolf , Jr. and his client are seeking to use potable Ogallala aquifer water for oil and gas fracking,” Dunn said in a news release. [Steve Terrell, the Santa Fe New Mexican]
It appears Egolf’s family roots are firmly entrenched in the oil and gas industry, and no man (or woman) can serve two masters. As a neurologist, I would surely like to know what is in the water, once the fracking industry is done with it. There is a reason the public, or doctors, are not allowed to know.
Thank you for this comment. There is a good deal of research that needs to be done to get behind the curtain.