Co-founder of Diné No Nukes and the Albuquerque-based Nuclear Issues Study Group

New Mexico is again being targeted as a national sacrifice zone by both the nuclear industry and the U.S. government in one of the most blatant forms of environmental racism.

Anyone from the Four Corners region has most likely heard about uranium mining and milling, and those of us from this area know about or have firsthand experience with the many health and environmental impacts. But how many residents from uranium-impacted areas know where that uranium goes after it is extracted from our Mother Earth? The simple answer is that uranium is used for either nuclear weapons or nuclear energy.

When used...

Part two of two

Members of the hardworking middle class have no one lobbying for them so they end up with fewer jobs, jobs which pay less and which are often part time with limited benefits. Meanwhile their expenses skyrocket such as college tuition, state and local taxes and healthcare costs when not subsidized by the government.

Imagine the cost savings if regulators worried about real safety hazards and truly corrupt business arrangements rather than effecting social change through EPA and presidential dicta. Just this week the EPA is rolling back methane leak rules for oil and gas while the Wall Street Journal reports [8/11, page A3] that Antarctica’s ice shelves are melting...

Meet 2020’s Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year

Ron Edwards knew he would start his own business one day, but the path to launching Santa Fe’s Focus Advertising Specialties was paved with a variety of jobs and small-business ventures.

The most influential of his early occupations was his overseas service in the Marines, Edwards said. Thirteen weeks in basic training and four years in the military “challenged me in different ways,” he said. “I learned that I can go further than I think I can.”

Working within fixed budgets also taught Edwards how to keep operations tight.

Those lessons in endurance and efficiency prepared him for the challenges of civilian life...

Part one of two

The New Mexico in Depth article about dark money in New Mexico really misses the mark [7/31]. It’s not surprising. This is such a long standing issue that many don’t recognize the extent of the problem.

Congress saw the problem with money in politics long ago and passed the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. But in 1976 the Supreme Court [Buckley v. Valeo] nullified the legislation, holding that by setting limits on election spending the act was unconstitutional. The first to exploit this were political operatives Paul Manafort and Roger Stone [both of whom decades later became two of the eight convicted felons for their work with President Trump].  They saw...