Powering the Navajo; Opposed By Democrats

The Navajo Nation in New Mexico is looking to build a coal-fired power plant on their reservation using the latest technologies and low-sulfur coal, which can also be mined on their reservation. It would be a 1,500 mw power plant, enough to power more than a million homes.

This has gotten New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (D) up in arms that the power plant might create emissions.

That's pretty rich since the Navajo are among those who are most in tune with the environment and would not damage the land and air they consider sacred.

The only emissions generated thus far the noxious and odious ones by Richardson and the eco-zealots who are seeking to kill a power plant that would generate jobs for the Navajo Nation, power homes not only on the reservation, which as Don Surber notes, is still not fully electrified, and would be a boon to the local economy.

Every plant that gets delayed or fought is an additional cost borne by taxpayers and rate payers - higher energy costs due entirely to NIMBY, eco-leftists, and gordiots (that would be the nitwits who mindlessly follow Al Gore around the world claiming the sky will fall even as they are prodigious users of energy and consume mass quantities).

Richardson and the other eco-leftists fought against the power plant - and lost in court. The EPA ruled against them, but they refuse to cede the issue and are attempting to appeal the decision. Those additional costs are going to be borne by New Mexico taxpayers and the Navajo Nation. Higher charges for power will also ensue as a result.

Richardson doesn't care. Just as I have remarked upon previously, the Democrats are looking to drive up the price of energy so that they can impose their own inane "policy", which is really about dictating what individuals can or cannot do with their property and limiting personal choice. The entire issue of air quality is a ruse for the fact that it is in Richardson's backyard and he doesn't want it there.

It may also stem from the fact that the state is not going to get a customary cut of the taxes and fees generated since the plant would be built on the reservation, and not state or privately held land. Either way, Richardson is pushing an agenda that runs against the needs of the citizens of New Mexico and the Navajo.