Joe Biden says we’re in a “battle for the soul of our nation.” I think he’s right. Never in my lifetime have the differences been so stark and threatening.
But what about New Mexico? Is this an epic election year or just another round of status quo electioneering? Personally, I’d say it’s the latter but for one issue in particular — climate change.
Less than two years ago, the state House and Senate passed and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law one of the most ambitious green-energy plans in the nation. It calls for the state’s electricity to be generated by 50% renewable energy sources (wind and solar primarily) by 2030, en route to 100% renewables by 2045.
To get there will require some major infrastructure projects, which are already underway via the wind and solar farms and transmission lines you can see going up around the state.
The Energy Transition Act is our way of being part of the solution rather than part of the problem, and yet opposition comes from Republicans who feel beholden to the oil-and-gas industry, which supplies roughly a third of the tax revenues our state operates on. That revenue base alone is enough to give a lot of New Mexicans pause when looking toward a future in which fossil fuels are overtaken by renewables.
Plus, even if New Mexico reaches its green energy goals, the rest of the world won’t likely do the same, so what good will it do anyway?
Maybe that’s where the “soul” of New Mexico is on the line.
Think about it: Do you believe that our state should stand up for our own short-term interests only — by boosting oil and gas production and consumption — or should we help lead our nation and world toward a cleaner, more sustainable future?
For me, that’s a no-brainer. I want to leave my children a world they can live with.
Consider what Mark Ronchetti’s campaign website says about the issue of climate change. The Republican candidate of the U.S. Senate recognizes that climate change is an issue that “can and must be addressed” but then he rails against “policies or agreements” that would hurt the U.S. economy “while the world’s largest polluters — India and China — sit idly by and refuse to engage in meaningful environmental impact reduction.”
Aside from the inaccuracies in his statement (China is widely considered to be the world’s largest polluter, but it’s the U.S. that’s the second largest polluter, while India is third; and China’s been cleaning up its air quality for years now), Ronchetti’s desire is to place the blame, and the responsibility to do something about it, on others, not us.
Seems to me that’s the very attitude that is eating away at our collective soul. Used to be, when faced with a global crisis, the U.S. would step up to lead, not wait for some other country to do so. Not so anymore.
I don’t know about you, but I’m voting for a cleaner future. At the very least, it’ll be good for my soul.
Tom McDonald is editor of the New Mexico Community News Exchange. Contact him at:
Read More: Opinion: Green initiatives are no-brainer