Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) says Wednesday on the Senate floor that health care reform must strive to meet the unique needs of rural communities in America. (0:24)
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
To mark Earth Day, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi introduced a plan to paint green the marble columns of the Capitol with energy efficiency and environmental initiatives. She calls it the “Green the Capitol Initiative.”
Pelosi’s plan involves 15 distinct steps to conserve energy and reduce waste, and is aimed specifically at congressional offices. Among Pelosi’s 15 measures are the use of compact florescent light bulbs, recycling used office items, and conserving electricity by powering off lights and computers while not in use. Additionally, Speaker Pelosi is encouraging the use of public transportation and the conservation of basic office supplies.
“The Capitol, which has always served as a beacon of freedom, is now a shining example of sustainability.” Pelosi said. She continued that the House has reduced its carbon emissions by 72 percent recently. She continued that if all Congressional offices adopt this plan, it will result in a savings of $1 million in energy costs and will cut energy consumption in the Capitol by nearly 10 percent.
Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oreg.), who Pelosi called “the main instigator” of the green plan, believes that Congress is setting a good example for the rest of the country. He said, “If we model the behavior we want the rest of America to follow, it has a profound effect.”
Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) said that one of the first things he did when coming into Congress was institute a recycling program in his offices. He grinned at the savings
“Just during the transition from the 110th to 111th Congress, Congress saved over 60,000 pounds of paper. Lujan joked with the Speaker, “I was going to bring an example of that, but I couldn’t forklift it in, just to give an example of what we’ve truly saved.”
Pelosi called it the moral responsibility of Congress. Her office is encouraging all members to adopt these “green” plans. “I think most members of the Congress are doing some of this,” but she could not give exact numbers on who has implemented all of these recommendations. “The Speakers office is doing all of this,” Pelosi said proudly of the recommendations.
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service
Michael Ruhl interviews Congressman Martin Heinrich (D-NM) after President Obama’s Address to Congress. Heinrich said that his Constituents have been very inspired by President Obama, and that he is “the right President at the right time”. Heinrich said he was personally inspired by the speech and energy of the event, calling it a “once in a lifetime experience” for him personally. (01:45)
The Obama-Biden campaign today announced a very confident and committed position in the presidential election. With several million volunteers around the country. the Obama-Biden campaign manager, David Plouffe, said “we like what we’re seeing in all the states with the early vote.”
Today the campaign released two 30 second TV ads in Arizona, North Dakota and Georgia. Plouffe said that even though the McCain-Palin campaign has criticized the Obama-Biden campaign about heavy advertising, “the McCain spending levels this week have been quite high. In the Tampa market, they’re spending over 5,000 points of television, which may be the most amount of television ever bought in a political race.”
Through advertising, voter contact, and resources, Plouffe said he feels the Obama-Biden campaign is doing everything they need to do in the swing-states. Plouffe also said the campaign is organizing polling information at popular locations that youths hang out at in the swing states.
Plouffe said that in the tossup state of Nevada, 43% of democrats voting early are new or sporadic. In North Carolina, 19% of democrats voting early never voted in an election before. In Florida, 1/4 of sporadic voting democrats have voted early. Plouffe said the campaign is putting special focus on voters who recently committed to Obama, because they’re known as “sticky” and still vulnerable to vote for McCain. Even though the campaign feels confident in their state of the race, Plouffe said this does not take away from “the fierce urgency of trying to win Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia, Florida, and Ohio.”
Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez (D-N. Mex) discusses the upcoming election and issues relating to American Hispanics. Chavez discusses the likelihood of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will win Illinois in the November Presidential Election and what areas Obama needs to focus on. Chavez also discusses the problem of illegal immigration and possible solutions.
Political Science Professor Christine Sierra, of University of New Mexico talks about how [Senator] John McCain (R-Ariz) is making New Mexico’s voters, and specifically Latino voters, an aggressive part of his campaign. However, she says, the “Obama staff” [Senator Barack Obama (D-IL)] is being won in the ground war, because of how he is staffing his offices in New Mexico. (0:54)
Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM) discusses US relations with Latin nations. (0:41)
