Democrats Stand for Land Protection

You can say what you want about the value of Party Platforms and if they are useful or not. But, these platforms at least give the readers some indication of what the Party's core supporters feel are important. So, it is thrilling to me to see that the New Mexico Democratic Party adopted a plank that calls for the protection of Otero Mesa and the Valle Vidal from oil and gas drilling. This is not something you would ever see in the Republican party platform since they recieve so much support from the Oil and Gas lobby. Yes, the Democrats get some little amount from them too, but this action certainly shows there is some independance on the Party's part.

This news comes on the heels of the House of Representatives inWashington passing a horrendous change to the 1872 mining law that will amount to the biggest give away of publicly owned lands in history to multi national mining companies. This was included in a budget bill instead an outright vote on the issue itself. I will find out how our delegation voted and let you know. Read about this travesty here.


Dennis Domrzalski tracked me down on my cell phone this morning to tell me that my article yesterday had one mistake. He said that Access Magazine did know he worked for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District when he penned that puff piece on his boss, Subhas Shah. He also intimated it was interesting being on the receiving end of a media controversey instead of authoring one.