I don’t know if it’s possible in text to not sound combative but I did have some questions.
First off is, if you support the moratorium on leases based on feelings about protecting wildlife and hunting heritage; what have you seen that makes you believe Ms. Holland is going to support that heritage? What have you seen from the current administration or seen from the feds at all that makes you think they’re capable of rational decisions?
There’s a huge Misconception that green, renewable energy can take the place of oil and gas and is better for the environment. Where are the data supporting this? A study done by Harvard Scientists a indicated to keep up with CURRENT energy demands,1/3 of the country would need to be covered in windmills. Add to this something like all electric cars and the amount jumps to 1/2 the country.
Windmills and solar panels have their own infrastructure, which is huge. The size of the concrete pads necessary to support these wind mills are massive. That stuff has to be mined somewhere. Has anyone seen the giant solar power arrays and the space they take up? Add in the road structure needed to access this for maintenance and installation, the fact that these parts don’t have long life spans and need to be frequently replaced and only work under optimal conditions is another deterrent.
Studies have show wind turbines in large arrays actually raise the surface temperature which is in direct contradiction to what climate change enthusiasts are trying to accomplish.
There are reports of people living near these wind farms having all shorts of issues such as anxiety, depression, hearing issues.
Last time I checked solar panels were only being made outside of the US, mostly China, same with wind turbine components, of course the majority are made with Chinese steel. Do we really need more China? Especially in our energy sector?
It’s true we need some discussion and possibly reforms on the issue of energy. It’s also true the push for total green energy has nothing to do with the environment and everything to do with economic and government changes. Renewables, in their current form can not, under any circumstance support the energy demands of the US.
I’m tired of typing on my phone so I’ll just end here. Again, the discussion is valid but shutting down our nations energy independence and limiting our production now and in the future with no real plan other than climate change scare tactics is not a plan at all.
I guess I should also mention the loss of jobs, telling people to just go build solar panels isn’t a viable alternative either.
Personally I dislike windmills and it disgusts me to see them on our beautiful landscapes although I can see some benefit in certain "limited" circumstances. I also dislike that the pipeline was scrapped, it's a lack of understanding and one of many poor decisions by this administration.
HDE's Link
Oil and gas production has changed a lot in the past decade and leasing means extracting the resources under the ground, not on top. That is where the change has come into play. There are thousands of feet of horizontal laterals under Navajo Lake in Unit 2, for instance, that tap into the high pressure coalbed methane play that normally would have taken acreage in the traditional sense of down-spacing in each quarter section. These laterals cut that footprint down by 1/2. That is what leasing really is. The footprint for "renewables" is much, much larger.
The moratorium is really just political fluff to appease a voting base. It does kill a state's economy though, not just NM's. The process already in place answer's to the NEPA process, which does in fact protect both ecological resources as well as cultural. This same NEPA process was well in play during the obama years. I know, because I was in the thick of it.
Sorry Jesse, not a personal attack. More just commenting on things that the op-ed left out...
As a born-and-raised New Mexican, some of my fondest memories include trailing my dad through knee-deep snow in the Carson National Forest in search of mule deer, and harvesting my first elk with a bow and arrow miles into the Gila Wilderness. These unparalleled landscapes and wildlife are a huge part of what makes our state so great.
But for too long, New Mexico’s communities, public lands and wildlife have not been considered equally under our federal oil and gas leasing system, which prioritizes energy development over the many other valuable uses of our public lands like outdoor recreation and hunting. The Biden administration’s decision to pause new leasing on public lands is a common-sense step toward fixing this system to make sure public lands actually work for everyone.
Not only is this pause a sensible first step, it also aligns with calls for reform from many voices across the state and will put New Mexico on the right path to transition our economy toward sustainable prosperity. This transition cannot be done under the current federal leasing system, which is a relic of a bygone era. For instance, the federal oil and gas royalty rate has not been updated in 101 years and has never been adjusted for inflation. So, while revenue for companies using these lands has increased, returns for the taxpayers who own the lands has not. The system has also prevented communities from maximizing other economic opportunities on our public lands, including outdoor recreation, which drives over $600 million in state and local tax revenue and supports 35,000 jobs. Last year alone, lands on the doorstep of Carlsbad Caverns National Park and within critical pronghorn habitat and big game priority corridors were offered up for leasing and drilling. Oil and gas leasing has also crept closer and closer to Chaco Canyon, despite major public outcry. Any reckless leasing is a problem, but cultural sites and sensitive wildlife habitats are never acceptable places for drilling. Hitting pause on leasing could ensure lands on the doorstep of special places or national parks are never again made available for oil and gas drilling.
The recent Colorado College Conservation in the West poll shows the majority of New Mexicans support the idea that oil and gas development in our state and across the country should be more limited – to protect our irreplaceable landscapes and wildlife. By pausing leasing, the Biden administration is giving the Interior Department an opportunity to take stock of how the system could work better for everyone, and critically evaluate which land should be available for leasing and which land should be managed for other uses like wildlife habitat and other outdoor recreation opportunities.
We are too great a state, and our public lands and wildlife are too special, to continue to manage oil and gas leasing with a process and policies that haven’t been updated in decades. It is time for a change, and this leasing pause will give the Biden administration and the Department of the Interior the opportunity to ensure our public lands and wildlife habitat are left better than we found them.
While it all sounds good for Biden to put a halt (er, pause) on oil leasing under the guise of updating requirements that apparently are decades/a century old, IMO if one steps back and looks at the big picture there is absolutely NOTHING Biden does that isn't politically motivated by a party I whole-heartedly disagree with.
As pointed out "green" (as defined by solar and wind power) is unsustainable and the adverse impacts of creating huge tracts of windmills and solar panels are blindly ignored.
So it's going to be a hard sell to convince me that putting the brakes on petroleum leasing is a good thing for our state or the country.
We got out butts handed to us this Legislative Session by the same people that these organization support.
