Fittingly, after a week of alarming articles about our media, our climate, and our border,(links to all posts provided today) we closed last week with a 50 minute talk from legendary indigenous activist Winona LaDuke where she outlines a values-driven economic system that is the only way we can justly navigate the climate catastrophes to come. She is so clear, kind and compassionate. Readers comment on Winona LaDuke Interview Posted Sunday.  This will be a regular feature on Sunday. Throughout the week, I’ll take reader suggestions and comb through YouTube looking for compelling video and podcasts for your Sunday morning edification.

“Wonderful interview with Winona. I loved every word she said. “Make a Living Not a Killing” Love it!”  Meg Meltz

“After listening to Winona, her prolific, indigenous wisdom and what she is actively doing to revolutionize our corrupt,  capitalist, archaic economic structures, (that no longer function), I am reenergized to move forward with plans to create an eco-diverse, fully-sustainable community, in the greater Santa Fe area. ”  Joyce Begosian.  The link to the interview is at the bottom of this post.

A Plea for Your Time.  Whether or not you can come to our meetings; whether or not you live in Santa Fe, Alamagordo, or Tulsa, you can be part of our effort to engage, educate, organize and activate. If there is a central theme to this blog and a central purpose to our work, it is that we all must be well-informed, we must begin to connect the dots that are the root cause of economic, racial, social and environmental injustice and then we all must DO SOMETHING. And there is much to do. This post suggests a few ways to do so and on Wednesday, we will a meeting to activate an expanded effort to create a statewide network that is informed, organized and activated.  We have very little time, a good deal to do and only each of us to get it done. There is no one else to forge a just path, just you and us. Join us.

New Energy Economy Renews Call for More to Sign Petitions to Stop PNM from Forcing Ratepayers to Purchase $1B Stake in Palo Verde Nuclear Facility. For a solid week, New Energy Economy mounted an email campaign at the PRC to let them know how NEE supporters feel about this decision. The PRC was buried in email, so much so, it broke their email server. They called NEE begging and the last thing NEE wants to be is a nuisance. But they also want to make it abundantly clear that the PNM shell game is over. And so in one, quick click you can add your name to a petition asking the PRC to say no to PNM’s bid to force ratepayers to purchase $1B in equity in Palo Verde Nuclear Facility and also forcing them to pay for billions in reclamation costs when the plant closes..  Click here to get to the petition.  When you land on this page, you’ll need to scroll to the bottom to provide a comment and to sign. Below there is a summary and link to a post from last week covering this issue.

Wednesday, June 5, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Retake Our Democracy, Community Input & Strategy Session at the Center for Progress Justice, 1420 Cerrillos, in Santa Fe. Last meeting we began sketching a 2019-2020 legislative and election strategy, as well as an outreach and organizing process. Whether you were able to attend or not, we want to encourage you to come to this meeting and help us develop strategies that make the best use of Retake resources and capacities over the next 10 months as we prepare for another Roundhouse session and the 2020 June primary.  Click here to review the notes from the May meeting.  We have emerging plans for:

• A Statewide Media and Marketing Campaign with a Co-Lead identified and prepared to lead a breakout on Wednesday
• A Climate Action Team with several folks interested in leadership roles with this team;
• An Outreach and Organizing Team that will cultivate relationships with activists in other regions of the state, focusing on NM Houses & Senate Districts where Democrats have impeded passage of important bills;
• A Research Team that will continue its work researching bills that could be introduced in 2020 and to conduct research in areas where Retake may want to advance policy or in areas where we will want to be fully informed on water, energy, and transition plans.
• A Team to develop plans for our involvement at the Interim Hearings that are just getting under way.

Other roles may emerge Wednesday. You do NOT have to live in or around Santa Fe to be part of this work. You do NOT have to attend meetings in Santa Fe. If any of these teams sound interesting to you, please just email me at Paul@RetakeOurDemocracy.org. As the teams begin to form and identify specific goals and tasks, you will be contacted to participate. We are exploring ways in which we can stream these monthly Community Meetings to other parts of the state and to utilize technology like Zoom to include people from other regions in our Team work.  Please join us.

Light food, NO DRINK CUZ WE DON’T WANT TO USE PLASTIC. But we will have Retake Our Democracy stickers you can put on your your water bottle.  no drink, just very important conversation. Please RSVP by writing to us at paul@retakeourdemocracy.org

Research Needed:  Last week I posted asking someone to comb over the entire Mueller Report and a volunteer stepped up and a well researched summary will be available soon. We have a couple of other research needs that I’d like to offer up where research is needed. If we are going to advocate at the Interim Hearings and the legislative sessions, we need to be well informed, have access to the most recent research and be able to advocate clearly for a specific set of policies, regulations and bills. Gathering the research is the first step.

• Produced water. We’ve read about the craziness of the idea. We ‘ve read now that there is a move afoot to get a permit and use produced water on 3000 acres of NM farmland. One of our team members has had conversation with Rep. Nathan Small and I will be meeting with him this week. From what I’ve been told the first step will be an effort to craft regulations to cover this use, then a hearing would be held to determine if the permit seeker has the technology to treat frack waste to meet those standards. I’ve been told those regulations will dictate produced water meeting NMED standards for drinking water quality. If we are going to advocate in this arena effectively, we need to know what NMED drinking water standards are, how those regulations are enforced, and then share that information with out members so we can advocate effectively. We need a water quality researcher for this purpose.  Interested?.
• Just Transition Research.  This may well involve several folks as there are multiple areas for research: diversifying the economy to generate a more diverse revenue base; economic transition options for impacted communities in Four Corners and Southern NM; tax and revenue strategies to close gaps and giveaways and more progressively generate more recurring revenue; independently verifying both the current level of revenue being generated by gas and oil AND the uncalculated costs coming: restoring the land, the roads, the water, and the air, as well as the looming “stranded assets” costs coming. Here again, we want to be an informed force offering concrete strategies and policies for making the transition and accelerating that process. I spoke with Rep. Melanie Stansbury yesterday. She authored HB 28 a bill to create a Sustainability and Resilience Chief Officer at the state level. That officer’s responsibility will be to work with multiple state departments to begin to look at these issues. We want to be an informed part of that process and an informed accelerator of that process.

If either of these research opportunities appeal to you, please let me know. paul@RetakeOurDemocracy.org.  Read on to view last week’s posts.

Reflecting on Last Weeks Posts & Alerts:  Fox News’ Impact on America’s Thinking; a Private Group’s Effort to Build a Border Wall in NM; Efforts to Block PNM from Forcing Ratepayers to Buy $1 B in Nuclear Energy; an Assessment of the Hidden Costs of Our Economic System and the Energy Policies that Support It; and a Wise Talk from Winona LaDuke on Our Next Economy

You are busy; you probably can’t devote an hour to reviewing all these articles, so I’d recommend you:  RSVP for our meeting on Wednesday; click to sign the petition opposing PNM efforts to have ratepayers invest $1B in nuclear energy, and then read the post: Our Tab Is Growing. Then tonight, sit back and listen to Winona LaDuke. That would be a great day.

Fox News Scary Characterization of the Green New Deal & New Mexico Energy Policy, Plus a Look at Rep. Xochitl Torres Small’s Hand in Produced Water Bill and a 30 Second Video Promoting the Joys of Fracking by NMOGA

Tuesday, May 28. I thought I was reading The Onion. Today we examine the kind of drivel that passes for journalism at Fox News–a diatribe on AOC, the Green New Deal and New Mexico who apparently passed the Green New Deal last session without public input, forcing us to utilize far more expensive renewables and forego far cheaper gas and oil. I’d love to see their math. While my tongue is in cheek, we have a serious problem here as Fox serves as a de facto state television outlet offering 1/3 of Americans false information and perverse logic. Click here to read the full post. 

Private Group’s Effort to Build Private Border Wall in NM Halted by Sunland Mayor

Thursday, May 30. Open House at SF Dreamers, Teresa Leger Campaign Kickoff, Poll Shows Sen. John Arthur Smith very vulnerable to Democratic primary challenge, and Sunland Mayor puts halt to privately funded, privately constructed segment of Wall in NM. Plus a 90 second video assault on Fox News from GOP strategist. Apparently, there are even Republicans concerned about what Fox News does.  Click here to read the full post. 

A New Day at the Public Regulation Commission: A Chance to Actually Regulate Our Energy Choices. An Action Alert Petition to Prevent PNM from Forcing Ratepayers to Pay $1 Billion for Equity in Palo Verde Nuclear Energy— A Very Bad Idea

Friday, May 31. Thanks to New Energy Economy’s heroic legal battles and the 2018 election ousting Sandy Jones & Lynda Lovejoy from the PRC, we have a brand new game at the PRC. The very recent Supreme Court decision codifies in law that PNM must demonstrate “prudence” when making decisions. Prudence is not a PNM strength, as the NM Supreme Court determined. Plus Good News 4 Chaco. Click here to review the full post. The post also includes a link where you can sign a petition opposing PNM’s effort to foist $1B in nuclear energy acquisition costs on YOU.  Just what you wanted, a personal stake in nuclear energy.

Our Tab Is Growing and Mother Nature is the Bill Collector & She’s About to Seek a Balloon Payment–A Most Important Post

Saturday, June 1. Saturday’s post focuses on an article from Truthout on the cost of “externalities” or the unpaid costs of growth, extraction, industrial agriculture, meat production, and other climate change drivers. The author JP Sottile uses a credit card analogy to press home how the cost of these externalities are coming due…with interest. Also included, an interesting video on regenerative farming. Click here to review the full post. Highly Recommended.

Winona LaDuke, the Legendary Indigenous Activist in a 50 Minute Interview Offering a Preview of The Next Economy

Sunday June 2. Sunday, you want to take it easy. So, grab some coffee and spend a bit of time with Winona LaDuke as she speaks truth to power like no one can. Inspiring and honest, this video captures exactly the kind of shift Retake has described in numerous posts. Except this is from Winona.  Pour a cup and listen in to a conversation with Winona LaDuke. Each week, I will scan a dozen or more videos on various topics and share the best of the bunch on Sundays. Today, it is just a podcast, but not just any podcast, Winona LaDuke.  Truly worth your next 50 minutes. Video follows a brief introduction to Winona LaDuke for those who aren’t familiar with her work. Enjoy. Click here to review the full post and to access the tremendous talk by Winona LaDuke.

In solidarity,

Paul & Roxanne

Categories: Climate Change, Agriculture, Land Use & Wildlife, Economic Justice, Community & Economic Development

Tags: Featured, read mre