A4 Tuesday, January 10, 2012
OPINION
Legislators: Make energy central to economic development
The energy industry can take heart from the last item of the last meeting of a legislative interim committee. Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, chair of the Economic and Rural Development Committee, proposes making the energy industry a central component of the state’s economic development strategy. This would be quite a change in attitude. Instead of being the rich uncle who’s always on tap, energy would become an asset to be encouraged and protected, like high tech, manufacturing and tourism. The proposal comes at a time when energy people (and entire regions of the state) are feeling picked on and under-appreciated. Besides the state’s unresolved controversies (the pit rule, the greenhouse gas emissions rules), there is a move by the Obama administration to steer investors toward renewable energies by altering tax treatment for oil companies. As we’ve learned, it would
EDITORIAL
SHERRY ROBINSON
ALL SHE WROTE
not do much to Big Oil, but it would hurt Small Oil — our New Mexico independents. In four meetings held since the last legislative session, the committee heard about prospects and challenges for job creation, and many of the presentations were energy related. Uranium: We’ve got it, and demand currently exceeds supply. Proposed projects are traditional shaft-and-tunnel mines. If proposals for mining and milling operations come to pass, they could create 13,000 jobs initially and 9,000 long term. Energy, Minerals and Natural
Roswell Daily Record
Resources Secretary-designate John Bemis acknowledged the five biggest problems: capital costs, operational risks, proliferation of nuclear weapons, waste disposal and public fear. It would do a lot to calm public fears if we saw clean-up of the old mines. Bemis said two federal agencies are beginning some reclamation, but there isn’t much funding. Representatives of the Cebolleta Land Grant in western New Mexico said a uranium deposit on their land could create jobs and help sustain the grant itself. Over time, the grant has lost more than 165,000 acres as heirs had to sell land to cover expenses. Revenue from an existing mining lease has already provided scholarships and will support roads and telecommunications in the future. Electricity: We’ve got conventional and renewable power and the potential for more. Several speakers noted that New Mexico requires utilities to use 10 percent renewable energy, and California
requires 33 percent. We could be selling renewable energy outside the state, but our aging transmission lines have reached capacity, they’re expensive to build, and the regulatory process is slow. Sonia Phillips, with the utility Xcel Energy, said demand for electricity keeps growing. Xcel spent $1 billion to meet EPA mandates when its coal-fired power plants were built, and now there are new mandates. The company needs predictable regulations that make investment in New Mexico prudent, Phillips said. Economic Development Secretary-designate Jon Barela was on the agenda to provide his “vision and legislative priorities” to the committee. What they got instead was a primer in economic development that each member probably knows by heart: manufacturing, energy development, science and technology, business retention. Blah, blah. Call me an optimist, but I keep
hoping for something entrepreneurial or creative. Despite eight listening sessions around the state, Barela still has no plan; the initiatives he’s pursuing were in motion before his appointment, and his legislative priorities aren’t new. He could at least dust off the plan of his Johnson-era predecessor, John Garcia. Barela could even attend Economic and Rural Development Committee meetings to hear what they hear and — important for an appointee who has yet to be confirmed — cultivate relations with legislators. At a meeting where Barela was conspicuously absent, the committee had to ask that Barela or a representative attend their meetings. The committee also asked that Barela include energy in his economic development plans. Meanwhile, meet Bernadette Sanchez, the new champion of energy — an Albuquerque Democrat and school counselor.
© New Mexico News Services 2012
Keep Internet out of UN’s clutches
The Internet is the most free form of communication ever developed. Anyone can put up a website or blog and spout opinions — whether brilliant, inane or very wrong. But governments, in their lust to control our lives, just can’t leave the Internet alone. The latest threat comes from an agency of the United Nations, the 193-member International Telecommunications Union. Members include North Korea, Cuba, Iran, China, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and other governments not exactly known for embracing free speech. America is “asleep at the router” regarding U.N. attempts to take over the Internet, Federal Communications Commissioner Robert McDowell warned Dec. 19. He was speaking before the editorial board of the Washington Times. “Thus far, those who are pushing for new intergovernmental powers over the Internet are far more energized and organized than those who favor the Internet freedom and prosperity.” He said that many foreign governments are upset at what they see as U.S. control of the Internet. The Times reported that the ITU “will meet in Dubai next December (2012) to renegotiate the 24-year-old treaty that deals with international oversight of the Internet. A growing number of countries are pushing for greater governmental control and management of the Web’s availability, financial model and infrastructure.” In fact, the United States government has only nominal control over the Internet, Jim Harper told us; he’s director of information policy studies at the Libertarian Cato Institute. The key to control is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ICANN assigns a name and numerical address for every Internet domain. This keeps the Internet uniform globally. It truly is a cohesive “net,” instead of a collection of separate systems. This duty formerly was informally performed by the U.S. government. But in 1998, President Bill Clinton spun off ICANN, which is a non-profit headquartered in Marina del Rey, Calif. Harper said that despite its location in the United States, ICANN so far is basically “free of government control. This is a mushy organization that sort of works.” Keeping ICANN independent “is a long-running battle that will continue forever.” Some people don’t like that. Regimes such as those in Iran, Saudi Arabia and China want more control to censor the Net. And, Harper said, “European bureaucrats want to make sure the Internet is run with ‘public values’ in mind” — a socialist attitude. Another threat comes from our own Congress in the form of the Stop Online Piracy Act, House Resolution 3261, by Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas. We have criticized it before for trying to take over the Internet to prevent “piracy” of videos, music and other information. As we have noted, sufficient safeguards already exist for online copyrights. No further legislation is needed. Harper warned that passing SOPA would put the U.S. government in charge of the Internet, which then would “just give the Europeans an excuse to try to take control.” That is another reason to defeat SOPA. Benign neglect is the best way to treat the Internet. The U.S. government should resist U.N. meddling. Information wants to be free. Guest Editorial The Orange County Register DEAR DOCTOR K: My 61year-old mother plans to take a long plane trip. Her legs usually become swollen when she flies a long distance. Should she wear elastic stockings or take any other precautions so she doesn’t develop a blood clot in her legs? DEAR READER: Long flights increase anyone’s risk of developing mild swelling in the feet, ankles and lower legs — and of getting blood clots in the legs. Swelling is common; blood clots are uncommon. On a long flight, unless you’re in a fully reclining first-class or business-class seat, you are not lying flat. Gravity is pulling blood down into the veins of your lower legs. Also, your legs are bent at the knees. This makes it harder for blood to
A resolution for a year of no fear A decade ago, we were a country in fear. Do you remember? It was January 2002, four months after an attack on our country we never imagined could happen. Remember the color codes, the threat levels, the impending invasion of Iraq, the realization that we were now a country at war and the postbaby-boomers’ first understanding that they would be raising children of war in America? A decade ago, the new year also was sweeter. We were happy to have our loved ones
Doonesbury
ASK DR. K UNITED MEDIA SYNDICATE
travel through your leg veins and back to your heart. As a result, the veins swell up. On a long flight, you also don’t walk a lot. When you walk, your leg muscles squeeze your veins, which keeps the blood flowing back to your heart. But if you are inactive for many hours, this also causes the leg veins to swell up. When your leg veins swell,
MARIA HINOJOSA
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
close because we knew the faces of so many who had lost their soul mates. The silent and lingering glances at family members — all of that “I may not see you again” post-9/11 thing — were very real to all of us. We were a nation in fear,
some of the fluid in the blood leaks out into the tissues of your legs, causing the swelling. Also, the flow of blood in your leg veins slows down. When blood flow slows, clots tend to form. Blood clots that form in the veins of the legs are called deepvein thrombosis (DVT). A DVT blocks blood flow and causes pressure to build up in the vein. This can cause long-lasting problems in the affected leg. Even more dangerous is a pulmonary embolism. This is a clot that breaks away from the leg and travels up through the bloodstream to your lungs. A pulmonary embolism can suddenly and dramatically decrease the flow of blood in your lungs. This can result in chest pain,
with political and media machinery that irresponsibly fed those fears. A decade later, fear is still the pre-eminent emotion in America, fear of ... fill in the blank: The debt crisis. The tea party. Immigrants. Protesters. Police. Unemployment. Foreclosure. Bankruptcy. A health-care emergency. These days, terrorism is low on the totem pole — a decade and one “finished” war later. And yet, do we feel any safer? What does “safer” mean anymore? The Transportation Security Administration? More immigrants in detention than
breathing problems, fainting spells — even sudden death. What can your mother do to protect herself against both leg swelling and DVT? The compression stockings you ask about gently squeeze the legs below the knee. They should help to prevent or at least reduce the swelling you mentioned. But in my judgment, compression stockings have not been shown to prevent DVT on long flights. There are three ways to prevent DVT (be sure to pass them along to your mother): First, stay well hydrated. Drink enough non-alcoholic beverages to force you to get up to make frequent trips to the toilet. Second, do in-seat exercises See DR. K, Page A5
ever before? More cops? More arrests? More stop-and-frisks? More surveillance? I am ready to walk away from fear because I am tired of it. Fear is the kind of emotion that takes over every part of your life. It starts with fear of another attack, then fear of difference, then fear of loss, and pretty soon it is fear that rules. The truth is that in the past year, many of the things I feared actually happened. My father’s Alzheimer’s became more evident. I lost a major
See HINOJOSA, Page A5
25 YEARS AGO
Jan. 10, 1987 • Maj. Lester A. Stair has been promoted to lieutenant colonel after completing an air war seminar at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., and training at David Monthan Air Force Base. Stair, 38, son of Albert E. Stair of Roswell and Joyce Maxwell of Sandyville, Ohio, has been assigned to duty at Myrtle Beach, S.C. He has also been stationed at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis. He is a 1966 graduate of Woodville (Ohio) High School and a 1971 graduate of Bluffton College, where he received his bachelor’s degree. He and his wife, Carin, have two children, Nathan and Amanda, 5-year-old twins.