Monday, May 19, 2014

A Good Day



President Obama will announce that on Wednesday, May 21st, he will sign a proclamation creating the nearly 500,000 acre Organ Mountain-Desert Peaks National Monument near Las Cruces, New Mexico.  This will be President Obama’s 11th use of the Antiquities Act, will be by far the largest monument he has created, will represent the first time that President Obama has used the Antiquities Act without unanimous local support (the area’s Congressman, Steve Pearce (R-NM) opposes the designation), and will be the largest expansion of BLM’s National Conservation Lands since the system was codified in 2009.  This is a great day for public land protection in New Mexico.  This is a great victory especially for Senator Martin Heinrich who worked so hard on this since before becoming an elected official.
  

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree. It's a good day. Republicans are trying to repeal the Antiquities Act (probably why Pearce went against the best interests of his district on this) and the president has as you say used the hell out of it.

It's also a good day, in my view, because besides Martin Heinrich's efforts paying off in Las Cruces he sent out an email today laying out what's at stake in the Net Neutrality struggle, voiced in it his unambiguous opposition to the Obama appointed FCC chairman's scheme to end Net Neutrality, and, AND, urged everyone to get involved in fighting it.

To solicit the participation of the unclean masses in the political process is a very unconventional thing for a politician to do these days. Mostly they want us to remain powerless and dependent on them while they get advice from their big donors and promise to "work hard" and "fight hard" for us before they sell us down the river.

Martin Heinrich is doing what no other New Mexico politician has done while I've been here - lead. And he let it be known that we the people do indeed have some agency.

If this mushrooms into the Revolution may Martin Heinrich receive his just due.