Week ending Friday, February 5, 2021

Net Zero

California scientists say the goal of reaching zero net emissions of carbon dioxide from industry and energy production in the U.S. can be accomplished by 2050 by shifting energy infrastructure to operate mainly on renewable energy. The team says the transition would cost about $1 per day for each U.S. resident, but it is crucial to averting the worst effects of climate change. “It means that by 2050 we need to build many gigawatts of wind and solar power plants, new transmission lines, a fleet of electric cars and light trucks, millions of heat pumps to replace conventional furnaces and water heaters, and more energy-efficient...

A cautiously brighter pandemic outlook after several months of unsustainable strain on the state’s health care system led New Mexico to announce a change in the mandatory self-quarantine requirements for visitors into the state on Feb. 10.

The Department of Health announced 15 counties had reached the Yellow Level under the state’s color-coding risk system, with four additional counties at the Green Level. All but four of the state’s counties saw a positivity rate below 10 percent in the most recent two-week period. Those four counties are led by McKinley, DeBaca, Hidalgo, and Eddy, respectively. McKinley County saw a positivity rate of 12.14 percent and an average daily case...

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer announced Feb. 18 that the Navajo Area Indian Health Service has administered 101,332 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines on the Navajo Nation, surpassing the administration's goal of administering at least 100,000 doses by the end of February.

“COVID-19 vaccine doses are going into the arms of our people at a very high rate here on the Navajo Nation. The confidence level in the vaccines is very high among our Navajo people and that’s evident by the long lines of people wanting to receive the vaccine that we see at each vaccination site," Nez said. "There is great coordination occurring...

Will work to complete Tommy Nelson’s projects

Genevieve Jackson is back on the McKinley County Board of Commissioners.

The retired educator and administrator who has spent most of her life in the county had already served as one of three commissioners for two terms before she stepped aside for two years, as is required by state statute.

Then, late last year, a vacancy for the seat was created by the death of Commissioner Tommy Nelson. So Jackson said “[I] threw my scarf into the ring” and applied to fill the opening. Then, New Mexico’s governor chose her.

Jackson, a retired educator and administrator both with the Navajo Nation and Gallup-McKinley County Schools District...