Growth from New Mexico Independent

Lehman Brothers and NM SunCal: connection or not?

Marjorie Childress — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:43:16 GMT

SunCal Company has issued a statement saying that it’s New Mexico project just west of Albuquerque isn’t connected to the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.

According to the New Mexico Business Weekly, a SunCal spokeswoman said the property being developed by the company just west of Albuquerque isn’t one of the SunCal projects invested in by Lehman Brothers.

'Clean coal' power: Real or imagined?

Marjorie Childress — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:00:00 GMT

There is a lot of talk about clean coal, including from Gov. Bill Richardson, as the country tries to find the right energy mix. But can science make coal clean enough?

Lehman Bro's problems include SunCal in the mix

Marjorie Childress — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:15:29 GMT

Another bank is suffering from the mortgage crisis fall-out. Actually, the New York Times says Lehman Brothers is in an “all-out fight for its survival.”

The bank was a major underwriter of mortgage-related securities before the subprime crisis hit, and it’s shares are down 90 percent from last year. It’s situation wasn’t helped this week when it’s stocks lost 45 percent of their value in the wake of the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bail-out:

Lehman’s announcement came a day after the bank’s shares plunged 45 percent to $7.79 a share following reports that its efforts to secure a strategic investment from Korea Development Bank had failed. Investors also feared that the federal government would not bail out Lehman as it has mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and investment bank Bear Stearns.

Green growth gambit

Marjorie Childress — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Depending on whom you talk to, five new zoning codes currently being considered by Albuquerque’s Environmental Planning Commission are either a positive step forward, toward less sprawl and more transit-oriented development, or they’re potentially a Trojan horse that will allow developers to more easily deviate from existing neighborhood sector plans. The new codes are called “form-based,” which is a wonky way to describe a new way of regulating how the city develops.

Governor to create "21st century showcase"

Denise Tessier — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:00:00 GMT

As the New Mexico State Fair kicked off on Friday, the governor's office released a number of broad ideas for use of the EXPO New Mexico fairgrounds year-round, promising the state "will move forward to turn EXPO into a 21st century showcase."

TODAY'S TOP STORIES: Gustav has the gulf coast on edge

Marjorie Childress — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:51:23 GMT

The biggest news this Labor Day weekend is Hurricane Gustav bearing down on the gulf coast. The storm is expected to cross the Louisiana coast mid-day today, to the west of New Orleans. As of this morning Gustav was downgraded to a Category 2 storm because its winds have slowed to 110 miles per hour, according to the New York Times.

The Albuquerque Journal reports today that New Mexico is preparing for gulf coast evacuees and has also sent the NM Disaster Medical Assistance Team to a Texas medical station.

Gustav has caused the Republican party to cancel much of its convention activities today. President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney canceled their planned speeches set for tonight, and the program for today was largely curtailed. It seems the Republican party will play the rest of the week by ear.

In other news, John Fleck has an excellent article about PNM’s future energy plans in this weekend's ABQ Journal.

Use a lot of water? Your bill is about to go up

Joel Gay — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Albuquerque’s top residential water consumers will soon pay more for that luxury after Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority closed a loophole in the water rates that allowed a small number of people to use an exorbitant amount of water. Additional changes may be coming that would charge water wasters even more, and pass the savings on to those who conserve.

NASCAR in TorC?

Marjorie Childress — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:00:00 GMT

The Hot Springs Motorplex development in Truth or Consequences has been widely touted as a potential home away from home for both NASCAR and Roush Racing, but according to an investigation by the St. Petersburg Times, it's not likely to happen. Nonetheless, officials in New Mexico are giving the developer the benefit of the doubt.

Santa Fe makes list of 'Healthiest Hometowns'

Denise Tessier — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:49:00 GMT

As if Santa Fe hasn't had enough attention, AARP has decided the City Different is one of "America's Healthiest Hometowns," suggesting it's a great place to retire -- even with its median housing price of $499,900.

The September/October issue of AARP Magazine places Santa Fe in the No. 4 slot in its list of 10 healthy cities, saying:

These cities have made robust living—and active retirement—a priority. After reading why, you might want to move there too.

NM housing market surviving better than other states

benito aragon — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:00:00 GMT

While other states in the Southwest, namely Nevada, California and Arizona, are getting hit hard by the housing crisis, New Mexico has remained somewhat insulated. The recent statewide slump, however, is giving New Mexicans a taste of what other regions have been experiencing for the last few years. Overall, across the nation foreclosure rates were up 8 percent in July according to the most recent numbers.

Guv says State Fair will not move

Denise Tessier — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Amid cheers and applause, Gov. Bill Richardson concluded a public hearing on the future of EXPO New Mexico Friday afternoon by stating unequivocally that "at least as long as I'm governor, the (State) Fair will not move" from the grounds. A second "definite" to come out of what he heard after about an hour and a half: "We have to be sure we replenish and upgrade the fair buildings that are here," the governor said. "The Legislature has been very good at doing this ... but we need to do better."

Report: Want to save a trillion gallons of water, American West? Here's how

Joel Gay — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:45:00 GMT

Southwestern states could save more than 1 trillion gallons of water a year by cutting use in four key areas, a report released today by Environment New Mexico suggests.

According to the authors of "Using Water Wisely," the region might reduce water use by more than 5 million acre-feet per year — 1.8 trillion gallons by doing the following:

Help farmers make the switch to drip irrigation
Help homeowners embrace low-water landscaping
Reduce the use of coal and natural gas to make electricity
Provide conservation incentives to businesses

Drilling in the West

Marjorie Childress — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Oil production on western lands during the Bush administration is down 12 percent from the average during the Clinton era, according to an article in the New York Times August 3. Average production overall was 97.9 million barrels annually from 2001 to 2006, while production in the 1990's averaged 111.5 million barrels per year.

The Bush administration, though, has issued three times as many permits as Clinton did in the last six years of his administration. As it turns out, companies are going for natural gas instead of oil, with production of that commodity being 34 percent higher, at 2.4 million cubic feet annually, than the 1.8 billion it was during Clinton's administration.

State lawmakers talk tough on adjudicating water rights

Joel Gay — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:00:00 GMT

State legislators meeting in Las Cruces this week are talking about springing loose millions of dollars in state funds to help untangle one of the state's thorniest issues: who is entitled to water and how much are they entitled to?

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that state Sen. Mary Kay Papen, a Las Cruces Democrat, suggested at a meeting of the Water and Natural Resources Committee that the Legislature appropriate $10 million for the process of adjudicating water rights. And rather than wait, she suggested making the allocation during the special session that begins next week in Santa Fe.

Green crude may come to Las Cruces

benito aragon — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:38:34 GMT

Although Las Cruces is known for its desert landscape, a bio-fuel company may be looking to grow algae there. Sapphire Energy has found a way to extract what is known as "green crude" from the water plant. This green-colored crude is the chemical equivalent of sweet crude oil.

The company's Website calls it "the world's first renewable gasoline," and states:

Sapphire Energy has built a revolutionary platform that uses photosynthetic microorganisms to produce a renewable, high-value replacement for fossil fuel petroleum. This domestic crude oil requires only sunlight, CO₂ and non-potable water – and can be produced at massive scale on non-arable land.