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Groups Ask Court to Help "Clear the Air" on Clean Cars Case

from the NEW MEXICO NEWS CONNECTION - A statewide news service for New Mexico
Albuquerque - More than a dozen groups have asked a federal court to let them come to the defense of the state's "Clean Cars" standards  which are opposed by Zangara Dodge, Jack Key Motors, the National Automobile Dealers Association and other dealerships who have sued the State of New Mexico and the City of Albuquerque in federal court. Similar lawsuits filed in California and Vermont have failed.

Environmental, public health and consumer groups are running to the defense of cleaner, more efficient cars for New Mexico and have asked a federal court to let them help defend the state's "Clean Car" standards, which were adopted last year. Environment New Mexico is one of the groups asking to be an "intervener-defendant" on the case.  Director Lauren Ketcham with Environment New Mexico calls the auto dealers' suit "frivolous" and says the standards are in the best interest of all New Mexican, "It sets stricter standards for health-hazardous air pollutants, requires greater investment and production of advanced technology vehicles by manufacturers and would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

The car dealers say the tougher standards would increase the cost of buying a car and drive consumers to make the big purchase in other states. Ketcham says the increased cost would be more than offset by the savings in gas from more fuel-efficient cars. New Mexico was the thirteenth state to adopt clean car standards; similar challenges in other states have failed.  Ketcham says she's confident the court will uphold the program, and she says it's a shame that time has to be wasted on litigation, "Rather than the auto industry just rolling up their sleeves and working to deliver the cleaner vehicles that drivers want, and that frankly, four dollars a gallon gas demands."

Richardson, Other Guvs, Get "Energized" Over Protecting Wildlife

Jackson Hole, WY - Governor Richardson is back in New Mexico fresh from a meeting of Western Governors in Wyoming, where recommendations were approved to help give wildlife a seat at the table when it comes to energy development and infrastructure in New Mexico, and the rest of the West. Western Governors put their energy in to making sure western wildlife is protected. The annual Western Governors meeting was held in in Wyoming where more than a dozen of the Governors approved recommendations to help protect wildlife and their habitat in the face of current plans to build wide energy corridors across the West. Wildlife biologist Steve Torbit with the National Wildlife Federation says it's a bold move for the gubernatorial group, "What the Governors have said is, 'in these special areas, how can development adjust to maintain wildlife?' So, they've really turned the paradigm on its head."

Torbit said that the Governors also agreed that the public should have more of a say in oil and gas drilling in the West. He adds that despite the Governors' agreement, much of the decision-making power still lies in the hands of the federal and local governments. Torbit who was one of the experts who helped to shape the Governors' recommendations, added that more and more Western politicians have come to understand the value of wildlife, not only to the environment, but to the local culture and economy, "It's, I think, an important recognition of the value that wildlife has for the people of the West and the landscape of the West."

New Mexico drops to 48th in national KIDS COUNT ranking

ALBUQUERQUE-New Mexico dropped to a ranking of 48th in child well-being in the 2008 national KIDS COUNT Data Report, to be released on June 12 by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Last year the state ranked 47th. The annual report ranks the 50 states based on ten indicators of child well-being such as child poverty rates, teen birth and dropout rates, and infant mortality rates, using the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data available.
 
"It's always disappointing to see New Mexico so close to the bottom," said Lisa Adams-Shafer, KIDS COUNT Program Manager for New Mexico Voices for Children, which co-releases the annual report. "But, as always there are some bright spots. We continue to do very well in terms of infant mortality rates, and we continue to outpace the national average in improvement in high school drop out rates," she added. "Sadly, our child death rates have continued to worsen."
 
New Mexico ranks 16th in infant mortality rates, but 47th in the percentage of teens who are not high school dropouts - despite a 38 percent improvement between 2000 and 2006. The state's death rate for children between 1 and 14 years of age increased by 55 percent between 2000 and 2005, ranking us 48th in this measure. In contrast, the national average decreased 9 percent over the same time period. Despite our low infant mortality rates, our percentage of low-weight babies rose by 6 percent between 2000 and 2005.
 
As in past years, Louisiana and Mississippi ranked lower than New Mexico. Alabama, which ranked 48th last year, moved up to 47th. New Hampshire ranked 1st this year.
 
Because of the lag in data, the effects of recent New Mexico initiatives such as the pre-K program, raising the minimum wage, and the creation of the Working Families Tax Credit, will not show up for a few more years. "These kinds of programs are a great start, but it will take a lot more to move New Mexico out of the bottom ten," said Adams-Shafer. "Dramatically improving child well-being will take a concerted effort that addresses multiple issues, starting with child poverty. We need to expand early care and education programs and cover all kids with health insurance," she added. "The recent launch of Governor Richardson's poverty task force is also good news." Optimal outcomes for child well-being are outlined in Children's Charter, which was launched by NM Voices late last year.
 
Besides the ten indicators, the data book also looks at demographics, such as the percentage of children without health insurance, and focuses on one child-specific issue. This year, the report focuses on juvenile justice - an issue on which New Mexico does relatively well.
 
"Our rate of youth ages 10 to 15 in custody is less than half the national average," said Adams-Shafer. "The KIDS COUNT essay links this, in part, to changes that began in the Bernalillo County juvenile justice system." The data book essay cites changes in Medicaid rules that allowed the creation of an outpatient clinic for mental health treatment as a model of good public policy.
 
The National KIDS COUNT Data Report is available online at http://www.kidscount.org/datacenter/2008databook/

Feds blame locals for gas/oil drilling slowdown (& prices at the pump)

from the NEW MEXICO NEWS CONNECTION - A statewide news service for New Mexico
Santa Fe - A new report finds the federal government blames local communities for slowing down oil and gas drilling because those communities are trying to protect water and other resources. And the blame game continues despite the fact that most leased lands sit idle while industry plays catch-up on development, and the clamor for more leases continues.

The federal government says local laws to protect clean water in New Mexico and the West are 'impediments' to boosting domestic oil and gas production, even though the industry can't keep up with all of its own leases to drill on federal land. A new analysis from the Wilderness Society of federal documents shows millions of leased acres are sitting idle. Report co-author Dave Alberswerth with The Wilderness Society says, at the same time, the push to lease more land continues. And he takes issue with one recent government report that blames local communities for 'hindering' development - when those communities are interested in making sure water isn't contaminated, "They're critical of local government entities for wanting to protect their water supplies."

Alberswerth says drilling has been a boom for New Mexico, but there's even greater potential for the state to continue leading the way in alternative energies. And with only a quarter of leased lands under development, there's time for those new technologies to catch up. Critics of The Wilderness Society report say the push to drill matches increased demand.

The Wilderness Society's Eleanor Huffines says the oil and gas boom in New Mexico has been great for state revenues and a small group of workers and businesses, but most New Mexicans are still feeling pain at the pump and looking for energy alternatives, "People are, rightfully so, concerned about prices at the pump. And we need to have a dialogue that helps resolve some of the stress, and looking at alternative energy." The full report is at http://www.wilderness.org/NewsRoom/Release/20080529.cfm

Gas, & Child Health Among Reasons to Explore NM's Backyard, Starting with 'National Trails Day'

 from the NEW MEXICO NEWS CONNECTION - A statewide news service for New Mexico
Albuquerque - With gas prices way up, there's more reason than ever to take the family outdoors this summer, something that's sorely needed for the mental and physical health of New Mexico children, according to recent federal stats on child health. Here in New Mexico gas has surged past four dollars per gallon and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is encouraging more families to "hit the trail" instead of the road this summer vacation. NWF education director Heather White says it's not only healthier for the family budget.  Especially in this age of concern about childhood obesity White says,  "Not only do you have mental health and academic benefits, you also have the physical benefits of exercise." 

Referring to an additional benefit of childhood exercise, White says research has shown that children with attention deficit disorders have improved concentration in the classroom when they spend time outside. According to White this weekend's National Trails Day is a perfect way to start summer in the great outdoors.

The National Wildlife Federation has compiled research that shows today's children are suffering severe "nature deficits." Kevin Coyle with the Federation says some parents keep children indoors because of "stranger danger" fears, which he says are unfounded - and he says there are more risks for kids in the technological world, "The child who's online has a 1 in 5 chance of communicating directly with a sexual predator. It's actually, in our opinion, more dangerous for a kid online than it is outdoors."