Recusal of NM regulators sought in emissions case

From the Santa Fe New Mexican.com - ALBUQUERQUE — An environmental group is asking that three New Mexico regulators recuse themselves from the debate over whether the state should uphold its rules for managing greenhouse gas emissions. New Energy Economy filed a pair of motions with the board this week. One challenges whether Environmental Improvement Board members James Casciano, Greg Fulfer and Deborah Peacock would be fair and impartial as the board considers petitions aimed at overturning the rules. The other motion asks for remaining board members to disclose their past and current relationships with the electric utilities, oil and natural gas developers and others who have petitioned to have the rules repealed. "We're not trying to ambush them. We're giving them an opportunity to explain themselves," said Mariel Nanasi, executive director of New Energy Economy. "We just want the law to be followed, and we want a fair hearing." The seven-member board meets Friday, but it will likely be October before the recusal matter is considered. Read more

Recusal of NM regulators sought in emissions case

Prohibition part two works as well as the original

From NMPolitics.net - Commentary by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. - So far the American War on Drugs has worked exactly like the first prohibition that concerned alcohol. Sadly, the object of our current prohibition, illegal drugs, is even more prevalent now than when the War on Drugs started. Worse, as a nation we have spent billions of dollars making our country into almost a police state without affecting the availably and use of these drugs other than to clog the prisons with drug users and sellers. The tools and sophistication involved in this battle have increased, but the basic premise of the intervention has not. It would seem that we as a country learned nothing from the turbulent years when as a nation we tried to prohibit the sale and consumption of alcohol. Read column

Prohibition part two works as well as the original

Biased Planet Savers Question "Impartiality" of Some EIB Board Members

In a dubiously titled press release on its website called, "Carbon Reduction Victory" the environmentalist organization known as, "New Energy Economy" announced that its attorneys filed a motion on July 29, 2011 in Governor Martinez’s Environmental Improvement Board (EIB) that seeks to disqualify the EIB members for what it calls "ex parte (secret) agreements between them and major polluters, led by the state’s largest utility, Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), who seek to repeal the state’s carbon pollution reduction law." Observers News New Mexico spoke to categorized the lawsuit as the latest output from a notrious litigation factory that pollutes with state's economy with toxic by-products such as much higher energy costs and structural unemployment.

Biased Planet Savers Question "Impartiality" of Some EIB Board Members

$535 Million "Green" Investment Bankruptcy a Major Obama Campaign Contributor

Obama Getting the "Tour"

Daily Caller - A solar energy company that intends to file bankruptcy received $535 million in backing from the federal government and has a cozy history with Democrats and the Obama administration, campaign finance records show. Shareholders and executives of Solyndra, a green energy company producing solar panels, fundraised for and donated to the Obama administration to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Tulsa billionaire George Kaiser, a key Obama backer who raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for the president’s election campaign, is one of Solyndra’s primary investors. Kaiser himself donated $53,500 to Obama’s 2008 election campaign, split between the DSCC and Obama For America. Kaiser also made several visits to the White House and appeared at some White House events next to Obama officials. Campaign finance records show Kaiser and Solyndra executives and board members donated $87,050 total to Obama’s election campaign. And now, just two years after securing a half-billion-dollar federal loan, Solyndra has said that it will declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In a statement, Solyndra wrote “global economic and solar industry market conditions” forced it to close its Fremont, California, factory and layoff 1,100 employees. Read full story here: News New Mexico

$535 Million "Green" Investment Bankruptcy a Major Obama Campaign Contributor

Rep. Allen West Calls for End to Tea Party Denigration

Courtesy of conservativedailynews.com

Daily Caller - In response to recent comments made by Indiana Democratic Rep. Andre Carson and California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters that denigrate the tea party movement, Florida Republican Rep. Allen West — a member of both the Congressional Black Caucus and the Tea Party Caucus — sent a letter to CBC Chairman Emanuel Cleaver Wednesday requesting that the body condemn such remarks. “As Chairman of the CBC, I believe it is incumbent on you to both condemn these types of hate-filled comments, and to disassociate the Congressional Black Caucus from these types of remarks. Otherwise, I will have to seriously reconsider my membership within the organization,” West wrote.  Read full story here: News New Mexico

Rep. Allen West Calls for End to Tea Party Denigration

Government Help

Courtesy of conservativedailynews.com

Government Help

The Epic Fail of EcoKat

EkoKat

Capitol Report New Mexico - It’s been said there is no such thing as bad publicity. But apparently, the marketing people at Kansas State University think there is. Last week, the university debuted a politically-correct mascot called EcoKat, designed to encourage students to be more environmentally conscious. But the reaction has been overwhelmingly (and instantly) negative, with K-State students and alumni mocking her: Read full story here: News New Mexico

The Epic Fail of EcoKat

Licenses to Illegals Has No Impact on Uninsured Driver Percentages

KRQE - A new study says allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses or requiring lawful residency identification has an "insignificant impact" on the percentage of uninsured drivers in New Mexico. The Deming Headlight reports that New Mexico State University's J. Tim Query, a finance and business law professor, released the study this week which showed lawful residency requirement has a negligible impact on the percentage on uninsured motorists. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Licenses to Illegals Has No Impact on Uninsured Driver Percentages

Special Sessions

Steve Terrell

Roundhouse Roundup - As Gov. Susana Martinez heads into her first special session, which seems to be drawing more complaints from legislative Democrats each day, it’s starting to remind me of another governor’s first special session, a bitter time in which it became apparent that the honeymoon between the new governor and the Legislature was way past over. In fact, if Martinez and her predecessor Bill Richardson were on friendlier terms, the former governor might provide Martinez with some cautionary tales from the not-so-distant past. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Special Sessions

New West Side Stadium in Albuquerque?

KOB TV - It's been a sore subject for people who live on Albuquerque's West Side, and today they had a chance to share their thoughts about plans to build a new APS stadium and park in their neighborhoods. The Development Review Board held a hearing Wednesday morning, and more than 20 people, both for and against the plan, spoke out. APS is set to buy the land to build a new stadium, complete with baseball and soccer fields, and a city park, near I-40 and 98th street. But many people at the hearing were upset, saying it's not what they were promised when they bought their homes. Some said they were told new homes and apartments, or a new shopping center similar to ABQ Uptown was supposed to be built on the vacant land.
"If it's not done right and it's not executed right, our neighborhood will be affected first. But the entire city will be affected- everyone in the city," said West Side resident Tabitha King. King went on to say a shopping center would have provided revenue for the city, and a stadium will only cost money. Still, there was a lot of support for the stadium, and future site of a new APS elementary and high school. Read full story here: News New Mexico

New West Side Stadium in Albuquerque?

Fischmann: Time to Focus on Jobs

Steve Fischmann

NMPolitics - National economic growth is at a standstill. Large cuts in federal programs loom ahead. New Mexico is highly dependent on federal dollars to float our economy. The federal government spends over three dollars on us for every dollar New Mexicans send to Washington. Hang on to your hats, because as tough as it is to find a job in New Mexico now, it could get much worse. While it may take a year or more for the federal cutbacks to ripple through our economy, it will also take that long for any new state-driven job creation policies to have an impact. We need decisive action now. We need to act on multiple fronts. We need to focus. Nothing else is as urgent. Here are a few concrete ideas to help get us on track. The “no brainers:” Read full commentary here: News New Mexico

Fischmann: Time to Focus on Jobs