PNM offers New Mexico non-profits energy grants

New Mexico non-profits, who want to become more energy efficient, could soon be getting some help -- in the form of grants -- from PNM.

The nonprofit PNM Fund, a division of the PNM Resources Foundation, announced today that it will award $250,000 in Reduce Your Use Grants to nonprofits in its service territory to implement energy-saving measures that lower their electric bills and help the environment.

“With the demand for services supplied by so many nonprofits rising, and budgets tightening, the Reduce Your Use Grant represents a unique opportunity for a nonprofit to focus more of its money on what really matters: fulfilling its core mission,” said Diane Harrison Ogawa, executive director of the PNM Resources Foundation.

In prior years, funded projects included the replacement of inefficient appliances with Energy Star®-rated appliances, replacement of single-pane windows with double-pane windows, upgrades and updates to lighting systems, and installation of solar photovoltaic panels.

The PNM Fund, a division of the PNM Resources Foundation, has invested over $7 million to fund nonprofit projects that meet community needs. More than $780,000 is distributed annually through PNM Reduce Your Use Grants, PNM Classroom Innovation Grants, Matching Grants, Volunteer Grants and Volunteer Excellence Awards.

Applications must be submitted online by April 15. Recipients will be announced in May.

Nuclear power gets a boost from Obama

There hasn't been a nuclear power plan built in the country since the Three Mile Island meltdown in the 1970's, but today, in Maryland, the industry will get a boost from President Barack Obama.

While many in his party might not like it, Obama will announce a Federal loan guarantee today for two reactors which will be constructed by Georgia Power, a division of the Southern Company in Burke County, Georgia -- and that means a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants.

On the campaign trail, Obama hedged on nuclear power, but said it should be "in the mix" and raised questions about its safety.

Last month, Obama appointed U.S. Sen Pete Domenici to his "blue ribbon" commission to study America's nuclear future.

At the time, Domenici said nuclear energy "has to be a key component of a new American energy policy that moves toward renewable, non-carbon emitting energy sources."

In June 2008, we talked to James Conca, the director of the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center and Institute of Energy and the Environment, which is operated by NMSU, about energy alternative that will likely be needed by the middle of the century.

Conca has co-authored The Geopolitics of Energy: Achieving a Just and Sustainable Energy Distribution by 2040 with Judith Wright.

Conca and Wright suggest if alternatives are not brought online quickly, fossil fuel use will also increase and more than double Carbon Dioxide emissions with all it's unwanted health and enviromental side effects.

They say the solutions must be in place by 2010 to be effectively serving the world's expanding population in the next thirty years.

The book suggests by 2040 the world must have:

• 3 Million Wind Turbines
• Solar Arrays totaling 3 trillion kWhrs/year
• 1,700 new nuclear reactors
• Biofuels from algae, cellulosics and high-efficiency biomass
• 3 trillion kWhrs/year from other alternatives including wave, tidal and bio gas.

The authors say the increasing efficiency and return from nuclear energy, the small footprint, the lack of Carbon Dioxide emission, the small amount of waste generated and the the ease of handling, has led to a resurgence of nuclear power worldwide.

Today appears to be a good start toward meeting those goals. In fact, just one plant, in Southern New Mexico could replace 52% of coal powered energy.

Three lawmakers endorse Powell for Land Office

Jeff Steinborn (left), Ray Powell, Nate Cote, Steve Fischmann at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe on Monday.

Democrat Ray Powell, a primary candidate for commissioner of public lands this year, picked up endorsements from three Doña Ana County lawmakers on Monday.

Sen. Steve Fischmann and representatives Jeff Steinborn and Nate Cote said they will back Powell “because of his commitment to reforming the State Land Office and re-establishing an and open and transparent administration.”

In 2009, all three lawmakers proposed legislation to reform the State Land Office after a land exchange on Las Cruces’ East Mesa.

“Ray Powell is the reform candidate,” Sen. Fischmann said. “He’s who I trust. It’s no question that we need him back at the Land Office.”

“The stakes are high. With Ray, he’ll bring much needed stability back to the Land Office,” Steinborn said. “He’s ethical, principled and knows how to work with communities to maximize the dollars returned to the land office and ultimately our schools.”

“When Ray Powell served as land commissioner, he was recognized for running one of the best land management agencies in the country,” Cote said. “Right now, the Land Office is in crisis, and we are desperately in need of leadership we can trust.”

Ray Powell, a veterinarian, who previously served as land commissioner from 1993-2002, is currently employed as a regional director for the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research Education and Conservation in the western United States, said “these legislators have been instrumental in exposing the behind-the-scene deals happening at the Land Office.”

“I’m eager to clean the place up. I look forward to working with these outstanding leaders to ensure real reform is enacted to protect our public lands and the significant revenues they generate for our public schools, universities, and hospitals,” Powell said after receiving the endorsements.

Powell face Santa Fe County Commissioners Harry Montoya and Mike Anaya, and PRC Commissioner Sandy Jones in the Democratic primary this June.

Earlier this month, Jones, who is currently a Public Regulation Commissioner, was endorsed by the New Mexico Professional Fire Fighters Union, New Mexico Building and Construction Trades Council, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 611, Iron Workers Local 490, Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 412 and Lordsburg Mayor Arthur Clark Smith.

Four Republicans are also running in the primary, including oilman Spirio Vassilopoulos, Jim Jackson, who took a leave of absence from the land office to campaign for the post; cattle rancher Matt Rush; and GOP activist Bob Cornelius.

Recovery Act - one year later

Last week, while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was proposing to trim back a proposed jobs bill from $85 billion to $15 billion over 10 years, U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich was home – in his 1st Congressional District — touring a low-income housing construction site that will create or retain 100 jobs for some workers who have been collecting unemployment for months.

Heinrich’s visit to NewLife Homes, an affordable housing project, which will produce 48 units for individuals with mental and physical disabilities, some of whom are transitioning out of homelessness, highlighted how money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is being used in New Mexico. ARRA was signed one year ago this week — on February 17, 2009.

Heinrich told us that he supports a provision in the jobs bill that would offer tax credits to employers who hire workers who have been unemployed for at least 60 days. He says it could prompt businesses to move forward with hiring.

Business investment will improve economy

Heinrich’s Republican challenger, Jon Barela, is also talking about jobs.

He is an advocate for creating a better regulatory environment for industry and argues against tax increases.

“During these tough and uncertain economic times the last thing Congress needs to do is place more burden on individuals and small businesses,” Barela said. “Allowing individuals and small businesses to keep more of their money will allow them the opportunity to invest and spend and improve the current economic downturn.”

Barela contends that "increased taxes will compel small businesses to reduce their workforce when our nation is already experiencing high rates of unemployment.”

“Conversely, providing small businesses tax incentives will allow them to increase their workforce,” Barela said.

Jobs: Issue #1

With congressional mid-term elections this fall, deal making across party lines looks to be difficult on many issues, but it appears a jobs bill could be an exception, given the urgency of unemployment as a voter concern.

Heinrich said the final jobs bill should focus on “the most important priorities – creating good-paying jobs, helping the middle class and making targeted, responsible investments in our future.”

“It must demand transparency and accountability to guarantee all taxpayer money is used properly,” Heinrich said. “By focusing on job creation, energy independent and middle-class tax relief, we can reenergize our economy and make it work for everyone.”

Swinging a hammer again

Now, with the help of ARRA funds, Julian Gomez, a 36-year veteran of the construction industry, is wearing his hard hat again.

He was a victim of the current economic downturn when Gerald Martin Construction company was told the NewLife Homes project had been put on hold.

Now the general contractor is re-hiring, and Gomez told us that he is ready to swing his hammer again.



Now Gomez said he is hearing there is “a lot of working coming up,” and he hopes the worst is behind him.

2010 voters likely to reject incumbents

Last week, Dr. Howard Dean visited students, faculty, and Democrat activists at a public event on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque.

Reading polls and tracking public sentiment, Dean says it will be tough for the state's Democrats to keep its "all blue" congressional delegation in tact after the 2010 Election.



Incumbents in jeopardy

As Americans look ahead to the mid-term elections, they seem to be expressing the sentiment that anything new is preferable to anything old, -- such as an incumbent.

The real dynamic seems to be a revolt against insiders -- as voters say they would choose a challenger over an incumbent by a two-to-one margin (38 percent to 19 percent).

Americans dispense just about as much disdain for Republicans (42 percent favorable; 46 percent unfavorable) as Democrats (42 percent favorable; 48 percent unfavorable), according to a poll released nearly on February 5th.

On the other hand, the new kid on the block -- the Tea Party Movement -- fares better (35 percent favorable; 22 percent unfavorable), although more than four of 10 voters are unable to give an opinion or say they have never heard of the group.

It appears politicians of both parties had better take the Tea Party movement seriously, if for no other reason than voters see it as a legitimate phenomenon.

About half of voters (51 percent) think the Tea Party Movement is a “serious” group of people who believe government is too big and taxes are too high.

Still, one voter in five (20 percent) thinks Tea Partiers are on the “fringe” of politics with extreme right-wing views, while about a quarter (24 percent) is undecided.

Senate fixes tax lightning

The New Mexico State Senate tonight took the hit out of tax lightning that has largely struck Bernalillo County by passing SB 160- Property Tax Methods by a vote of 22 to 16.

The bill is expected to make property taxes fairer in Bernalillo County and across the state where tax disparities have been striking since a law changed several years ago to remove a cap on property taxes when ownership of the property changed.

That resulted in an alarming tax disparity among property owners because when there was a change of ownership a 3% annual cap on property valuations was not extended to the new owner. That often resulted in property taxes skyrocketing for the new owner whose property was assessed at current and correct values compared to neighbors whose taxes were still being limited by the 3% cap on valuations.

Sen. Steven Neville, R-San Juan,, said the goal of the bill is to equalize valuations and thereby property taxes that have gotten out of whack over the past several so everyone pays their fair share to run government.

“The cap for some and not for all went against the principle of fair and equal taxation,“ Neville said. “Some neighbors were paying more than their fair share of services compared to their neighbors. The new owners were subsiding their neighbors and that is not fair.”

Neville says his bill will help equalize taxes by allowing the 3% property valuation cap to remain in place even when there is a change of ownership.

He said it also calls for the county assessors to determine the current and correct values for all property in their counties over the next five years so taxation can be based on those current values.

While that might mean some taxpayers whose property that has been greatly undervalued will see their property taxes increase when the current and correct value is determined, overall taxes in the county should not rise because of a law called yield control.

Neville said because of yield control, taxes are not arbitrarily raised when property values increase in a county. If property values go up in a county, tax rates applied to the property go down because of yield control, resulting in tax collections in general remaining the same.

“Correcting the problem will be spread out over five years so there will not be a shock for those who have been subsidized in recent years. Facts are, there will be a slow rise in taxes for those who have been subsidized. Those who have bought property over the past several years and experienced unfair taxes should see their taxes slow down over the next five years when valuations become more accurate,” Neville said.

Foto Friday: Sun's magnetic field

This illustration shows convoluted magnetic field lines

extending out all over the Sun.(Image credits: NASA / SVS via Space)

NASA on Thursday launched a new observatory that is designed to evaluate the complex mechanisms of the sun.

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Florida's Atlantic Coast at 10:23 a. m. EST (1523 GMT), NASA said in a statement.

The SDO is billed as the most advanced spacecraft ever designed to study the sun and its dynamic behavior.

It has a five-year science mission and carries enough fuel to operate for an additional five years. Total cost of the SDO project is reported to be at 856 million U.S. dollars.

NASA said the SDO will provide better quality, more comprehensive science data faster than any of the space agency's spacecraft currently studying the sun and its processes.

Research by the new observatory is expected to reveal the sun's inner workings by constantly taking high resolution images of the sun, collecting readings from inside the sun and measuring its magnetic field activity.

According to NASA, the SDO will take images of the sun every 0. 75 seconds and daily send back about 1.5 terabytes of data to Earth -- the equivalent of streaming 380 full-length movies.

"SDO is going to make a huge step forward in our understanding of the sun and its effects on life and society," Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, said in a statement.

Data from the observatory will help researchers predict solar storms and other activity on the sun that can affect spacecraft in orbit, astronauts on the International Space Station and electronic and other systems on earth, NASA said.

State teams being deployed to Haiti

Six UNM physicians join a 23-member New Mexico Disaster Medical Assistance Team (NM DMAT) in a two-week deployment to Haiti beginning this Friday, February 12. UNM DMAT members include specialists in emergency medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology.

NM DMAT will augment an International Medical Surgical Response Team (IMSuRT) – a specialized unit of highly trained personnel equipped to establish a fully capable, free-standing field surgical facility anywhere in the world. The combined IMSuRT unit, the fourth such group to rotate into Haiti, expects to be operational by Saturday. Byron Piatt, UNM’s Emergency Manager and NM DMAT Team Commander, will lead the joint unit.

Approximately 200 volunteers from around the state comprise the NM DMAT, but typically about 35 team members are assigned to a disaster response. Team members include physicians, nurses, pharmacists and emergency medical technicians, as well as administrative, security, safety, logistics and communications personnel.

Since its inception, NM DMAT has responded to terrorist attacks, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and fires.

Wilson honored by Air Force Academy

Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, the only Air Force Academy graduate to serve in Congress, has been selected as one of two distinguished graduates to be honored this year by the Air Force Academy for her "singular and distinctive contributions to our society and nation". She is the first woman graduate to earn this honor and the youngest graduate ever chosen.

"The Academy chooses two graduates each year to hold up as role models to current cadets and the nation. I'm very honored to be one of them this year," Wilson told us. "This award is both about what I have accomplished as a leader, but it also reflects my continued commitment to the education of young officers."

Wilson, a 1982 Distinguished Graduate of the Academy, served as the Cadet Vice Wing Commander and was later selected to attend Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

Her active duty service included assignments in Europe where she participated as part of the Secretary of Defense’s team in the Conventional Forces in Europe negotiations in Vienna, Austria. She then served on the National Security Council at the White House. After her military service Ms Wilson joined her husband in New Mexico where she founded a successful consulting service company.

She will receive her award at a formal presentation during Academy Founder’s Day in April 2010.

Barela now a 'Contender'

The National Republican Congressional Committee has advanced 1st Congressional Republican candidate Jon Barela to ’Contender’ status in its 2010 Young Guns program, a three-step program dedicated to electing open-seat and challenger GOP candidates nationwide.

“I’m proud of the work being done by our staff and volunteers, as we offer New Mexicans a clear alternative to the high-tax, high-spend status quo being offered by Martin Heinrich and Nancy Pelosi in Washington,” Barela said in a Monday news release. “I’m honored and excited to join the ‘Contender’ ranks in the NRCC Young Guns program.”

NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions said in a news release that Barela “has already proven that he will be a formidable candidate by meeting the Young Guns program’s rigorous goals and is well on his way to building a winning campaign that will put this seat back in the Republican column.”

“Jon is part of a strong and growing pool of candidates who are frustrated with the Democrat majority’s big-government ways and aren’t willing to stand by any longer,” Sessions said. “His campaign has put Martin Heinrich on notice that Americans are ready to turn the page on the failed experiment known as the Obama-Pelosi agenda.”

Former 2nd Congressional District Rep. Steve Pearce, who is trying to retake the seat from Democratic Rep. Harry Teague, was already listed as a contender in the NRCC program. Neither Republican 3rd Congressional District primary candidate, Tom Mullins nor Adam Kokesh, are in NRCC's program.

Last month, we caught up with Barela at an Albuquerque Tea Party sponsored candidate “Meet and Greet” event in Rio Rancho.

He told nearly 400 people, who attended the event, that “there is going to be a stark difference” between him and incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich.



Recorded on January 16, 2009.