AltWeeklies Wire
The New Normalnew

The world’s climate has already changed. Now what?
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
07-15-2011 |
Environment
Fly Over Homenew

A conflict over Air Force training flights highlights New Mexico’s uncomfortable relationship with its military legacy.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
11-18-2010 |
War
Drill Downnew

Love it or hate it, the oil and gas industry is as much a part of modern New Mexico as red and green chile.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
10-07-2010 |
Economy
Rise of the She-Fish?new

With rising incidents of fish feminization, scientists want to know if contaminants are impacting the endangered silvery minnow in the Rio Grande.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
08-25-2010 |
Environment
It's Time for New Mexico to Make Some New Year's Resolutionsnew
Forget the personal. It’s time to get political. New Mexico, after all, faces challenges when it comes to everything from tackling political corruption to budget shortfalls, endemic drunk driving to declining educational achievement. That’s not to mention global warming.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
01-07-2010 |
Commentary
New Mexico's Environmental Horrors Could Lead to a Scary Sci-Fi Futurenew
In New Mexico, environmental horrors abound. Corporations influence the government's ability to regulate environmental emergencies, people who might otherwise be allies have faced off against one another in battle, and climate change is already punching its tentacles into the Southwestern landscape.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
10-29-2009 |
Environment
New Mexico's Youth May be its Best Chance for Transforming its Economy -- and Futurenew
Many on the local frontlines of the green-jobs movement believe the chasm between rhetoric and reality is growing. They say the state's best hope for transformation -- environmental and economic -- may lie with its youth.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
10-01-2009 |
Environment
Recent Raids Shed Light on New Mexican Looting Syndicatenew
Using undercover sources, agents from the FBI and the US Bureau of Land Management spent more than two years infiltrating a tight-knit community of looters in New Mexico who dig up graves and pillage archaeological sites on public lands, then sell the items they find to dealers and collectors.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
08-20-2009 |
History
Will Wolves Be Saved Under New Mexico's Recovery Program?new
Under a questionable partnership, the Fish and Wildlife Service has managed to give away its statutory responsibility to recover endangered species to a consortium of agencies, allege critics of the way wolf introduction is being managed in the southwest. Wolves are being removed -- or killed -- by the very people charged with reintroducing the animals to the wild.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
07-16-2009 |
Animal Issues
Power Plant Opponents in New Mexico Say it's Time to Get Over Coalnew
Proponents of the Desert Rock power plant say it will create 1,000 construction jobs and then approximately 200 permanent jobs once it's up and running. But the region already has three coal-fired power plants which are considered among the dirtiest plants in the country.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
12-18-2008 |
Environment
Tags: New Mexico, energy, environment, pollution, power plants, Navajo, coal, Desert Rock, Indian reservations
Enviros Brace for Bush's Last Actsnew

The Bush administration is pushing a number of rule changes to take effect before Inauguration Day: easing restrictions on power plants, allowing factory farms to skirt the Clean Water Act and weakening toxic emissions standards for oil refineries, among other things.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
11-20-2008 |
Environment
Will the Future of the Chile Include Genetic Engineering?new

Between the shaky agricultural market and the influx of various diseases, commercial chile farmers say they are struggling to survive. Scientists believe genetically modified chile seeds could be the answer to the crop's woes.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
10-17-2008 |
Food+Drink
Scientists Warn that Climate Change is Already Hitting New Mexiconew

Few people on the planet are unaware of climate change -- reducing one's carbon footprint has practically become a fashion statement. But behind the headlines and slogans, scientists are tracking the impacts global warming is already having -- and projecting what is yet to come.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
08-28-2008 |
Environment
New Mexico's Green Teamnew
Ten enviros making a difference on Earth Day -- and all year round.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
04-17-2008 |
Environment
Can New Mexico Run a Successful Election?new
Although state officials, including Gov. Bill Richardson, have distanced themselves from the debacle of the Feb. 5 Democratic Party-run presidential caucus, that contest wasn't the first in which New Mexico's voting process fell short.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Laura Paskus |
03-06-2008 |
Politics