February 2011

Our Renewable Future?

As we move into spring with the promise of renewal we’re reminded of our connection to the Earth, the sustenance it provides and the reminder that by planting, in mind and action, the harvest will eventually end up in our kitchen. During a time when contrasting agendas of the haves and have-nots, the corporations and the people, the right and the left, the old and the renewable, are obscured by vivid images of devastation, we are somehow united by a sense of vulnerability, not too unlike the common enemy provided by the events of 9/11. More >

The coalition will identify the health condition having the most adverse effect on the health and well-being of these populations in their community and subsequently develop a strategy that will More >

“The climate has already changed,” Foster told the Taos News. “We can expect more droughts, less snow, more risks of forest fire and so forth.” The plan states, “These impacts will change our lifestyles permanently, as everything we do as individuals, families and communities More >

Sac-Tec Labs of California has signed a lease to take over a 25,000 sq. ft. facility in downtown Carlsbad. The company has announced that it will produce a new generation of mobile solar and wind-driven power generating systems. Sac-Tec Solar will manufacture portable power generating units that utilize high-energy solar components, solar charged batteries, power generation and conversion systems.

The solar-wind power units are designed for rapid deployment by the military, emergency response services, and Third World countries without reliable sources of power.

Sac-Tec will initially employ 25 people and anticipates eventually employing hundreds.

Is there any hope for the U.S. to maintain a sustainable, working, mutually respectful relationship with North Korea? That question was the focus of a recent talk given by former Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory director Dr. Siegfried S. Hecker at the January meeting of the Santa Fe Council on International Relations. Over 100 people attended the sold-out event at the Hilton Hotel in Santa Fe.

The conclusion: maybe. It appears that, despite what we are constantly fed by most of the media, North Korea really does want to have some sort of civilized ongoing relationship with the U.S. and the More >

The Independent Petroleum Association of NM, the NM Oil and Gas Association, Public Service Company of NM, two other utilities have all More >

President Obama has signed a bill that extends many energy efficiency and renewable energy provisions through 2011. Included is Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Under the guidelines, the federal government will provide cash instead of tax credit totaling up to 30% of the qualifying cost of the project. The measure extends for one year the start-of-construction deadline for wind and solar projects.

Also extended through 2011 are a $1 per-gallon production tax credit for biodiesel, credit for manufacturers of energy efficient homes, a 50 cent per gallon alternative fuel tax credit, and credits for manufacturers More >

Loss of natural areas inevitably affects wildlife populations, but it can also represent a cultural loss. In Santa Clara Pueblo, for example, the disappearance of certain significant plants and wildlife along the Rio Grande has eroded Pueblo cultural traditions and practices.

With its $22,000 Innovation Grant, from Audubon and Toyota’s TogetherGreen initiative, Audubon More >

“A farmer and a midwife do the same work. We learned midwifery from the corn.” These are the words of Katsi Cook, a Mohawk elder, healer, midwife and environmental health researcher who visited the Yiya Vi Kagingdi Española Community Doulas at Tewa Women United last year. She was part of a panel of traditional birth workers that the program hosted so that the doulas and their networks could gain a better sense of how to bring traditional wisdom into their work in indigenous rural communities. Cook spoke of the importance of birth work as an element of a sustainable More >