The Natural World at a Crossroads

No, I'm not talking about Musk's "Fork in the Road."  This is an all-out war against nature by the current administration.  The new Secretary of the Interior is the antithesis of Deb Haaland.  He is a devoted fracker and wants to be sure that federal lands are kept open for the oligarchs.  Or is it oil-igarchs?  I don't see any National Monuments in NM at any immediate risk of being undone by the MAGAites, but the exclusion zone around Chaco is at risk.  If the walls of Pueblo Pintado come tumbling down, they will be to blame.

NM has an amazing amount of biodiversity due to the intersection of five major ecological regions.  The Great Plains, the Chihuahuan Desert, the Sonoran Desert, the Great Basin, and the Rocky Mountains all contribute to the mix of life and the splendor of its landscapes.  How we protect it depends on how we respond to the current anti-life administration, which seeks only to profit off of the destruction of the natural world we depend on.  

Additionally, CO2 continues to be pumped into the atmosphere and the climate becomes even more untethered.  Two months ago I might have bought a fully electric vehicle.  Now the convicted felon has revoked $5 billion in the electric charging station network. 

While the Muskrats under (little 'p') president Musk infiltrate USAid, CFPD, EPA, OMB, and layoff thousands, the courts are moving sooo slowly.  The GOP-controlled Congress is completely compliant and refuses to enforce the Impoundment Act.  Their rubber-stamping of an entirely corrupt and unqualified cabinet shows the depth of their mendacity.  History will not remember them kindly.  

With things at the federal level looking grim, we turn to Federalism in its truest form:  states' rights.  The current NM legislative session is grappling with the oil industry to deal with their desire to contaminate our surface waters with "produced water," the byproduct of fracking.  We can only hope that the Democratic state legislatures stand firm.

Meanwhile, Deb Haaland has received a number of high-ranking endorsements from NM Dems.  The danger here is that NM has a habit of flipping governors.  This is not the time for a change in the governor's mansion.  With a solid Blue majority in both state houses, we need a governor who can see things through to the finish line.

While I type about Deb Haaland, likely the first native American woman to be elected to a governorship, I read with dismay about efforts by the MAGAites to disenfranchise the indigenous vote.  Federal efforts have been made that would interpret the 14th Amendment to remove their voting eligibility.  

There is one small ray of sunshine today:  I was made a volunteer member of the BioPark's Conservation Committee.  Unlike the Mayor's BioPark Advisory Committee, this group actually has fiduciary powers regarding funding of conservation projects.  I look forward to learning more about this group and taking part in their meetings.  At least the BioPark only has a minimal amount of federal funding and can carry out its work with only a minimal (I hope) amount of interference.