What El Paso Missed and What It May Be Getting

What fracking has done to the land around Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Please read Robert Gray's excellent story posted online on July 27th by El Paso Inc.: New tax credit sparks activity across state: El Paso’s historic survey debate gets attention. It's about the benefits of having historic districts have been in Georgetown and Waxahahie, Texas. It's also about El Paso's City Council saying "no thanks" to do an historic survey which leads to having an historic district which is both a plus for building owners when they remodel and a huge plus for the city's economy with ecotourism and a revitalized downtown. 

Gray gives a balanced view and gives a building owner's point about low rents in El Paso. (That can change.) I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: City Council's rejection of this gift of an historic survey is not because they don't see that an historic district can help revitalize downtown and draw more revenue to the city; their main concern is having an arena downtown that will fill 12 square city blocks.

Also read Gray's equally excellent story posted online today: Shale Oil in Hudspeth County? Results show possible ‘oil field discovery’. Be sure that you check out the images for the story. (I'm betting an elpasonaturally post led Gray to get more information.)

One of the more telling lines in the story I am hoping came from Torchlight Energy Resources COO, Willard McAndrew and not from Gray: "The Orogrande Prospect stretches from the Hueco Mountains to the Cornudas Mountains, and on the surface, it looks like empty desert grassland."

Empty desert grassland? Tell that to the pronghorn sheep, the unique species of yucca, and all the other plants and wildlife. Soon our view as we drive from El Paso to the Guadalupe Mountains will be like the picture at the top of this post. 

Would City Council pass a resolution opposing fracking next to El Paso - the kind of operation that may compromise our drinking water once EPWU begins importing more water from Hudspeth County? Our County Commissioners passed such a resolution. Our City Council rejected it.

An arena and fracking. El Paso - it's all good.


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The Friday Video: The Andidote to Apathy

In 2013 just 6.97% of registered voters elected the new bunch to City Council - the bunch that promised more transparent, open government. Only a whopping 5.43% of voters participated in the run-off.

The low voter turnouts aren't because people don't care. It's because they believe that they don't count. 

In today's video Dave Meslin addresses a Toronto Canada audience. Although his examples are drawn from Canadian political culture, they easily apply to the United States and, yes, to El Paso. 

Meslin says that we live in a world that "actively discourages engagement by constantly putting bariers in our way." He names 7 barriers:

1. City Hall
2. Public space
3. Media
4. Heroes
5. Politcal parties
6. Charitable status
7. Our elections

This video will only take 7 minutes of your time. Listen to it and think about El Paso: a closed, non-transparent City government, a City Manager who clamps down on "leaks", the price-tag on freedom of expression, the lack of news about how to get involved, the message that we can't act unless called upon or chosen, the lack of really bold, creative ideas, the inability of organizations such as the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition or the prohibition of city employees to get involved politically - all while corporations and powers are considered people who can be involved - and the message that we just don't count.



Ask yourself this: Why do we have to ask for information via open records requests? Why aren't records just open?

Recycle Glass El Paso!

Want sustainable building? How about a scenario where 501,600 beer bottles are kept out of the landfill and instead used to pave a 5,700 square foot lot? Here's the story (you may have to answer a survey question to read the entire article):

High-tech parking lot helps museum ‘go green’

Not only can El Paso preserve more of its precious mountains because less limestone will be mined for concrete and asphalt mix, but the demand on our landfills will be decreased as well as often destructive stormwater run-off.

It's time for El Paso to recycle glass.

Pourous paving makes sense. Check out this commercial site.

More to come on elpasonaturally.

El Paso Needs a Water Summit

Rio Grande River Bed 

Former State Senator Eliot Shapleigh said the same thing that I've been saying for a long time now - viz., El Paso needs to have a major summit on water. 

"The flat truth is that EP farmers can no longer plant in most of the Valley due to an allocation of six inches," Shapleigh said. "Larger farmers are buying acre feet from smaller farmers mostly to keep pecan trees alive. Water tables are falling. Old wells from the 50's no longer touch available water."

What is required is major leadership - the kind that Senator Shapleigh gave us especially when he crafted a bill to do a Climate Change summit statewide - something Republican reactionary Dewhurst fought tooth and nail. (We don't want to upset our puppet masters in the oil and gas industry and industrial agriculture after all.)

The Texas Agriculture Law Blog shared a link to the Texas Water Report with this introduction: "Earlier this year, the Texas Comptroller’s Office put out the Texas Water Report.  This document provides a great overview of a variety of water issues currently going on in Texas.  It covers everything from current court cases to international treaty disputes to water ownership in Texas to the impacts of drought and the oil boom on water supplies.  If you are interested in Texas water issues, I would highly recommend reading over this report. . . "

Some major concerns remain: Will Texas actually have the will to address the stress on the water supply caused by fracking for oil and gas? Will Texas have the foresight to begin to promote small, independent, local, organic farmers? Will it have the foresight to regulate the use of water so that farmers will plant crops that don't require as much water? Will Texas promote green infrastructure/low impact development or continue spending billions of dollars on mega-reservoirs with lots of concrete? I'm afraid that Prop 6 money will benefit the large corporate firms and not thirsty citizens. 

El Paso also must deal with many of these water issues. But El Paso must also begin to limit sprawl. We have more land than water. Perhaps if developers and building contractors would begin to pay wages commensurate with the rest of the country, then they would have less to manipulate elections and elected officials. The higher wages would go far to spur a depressed El Paso economy so that sales taxes not property taxes could contribute more to financing city services. Infill would also mean that the financial resources of too many El Pasoans won't be drained by mortgages plus transportation plus energy demands. Again, infill would mean more people keeping more of their hard earned money and thus having more money to spend to help the economy. 

Water and the economy - they go hand in hand especially here in El Paso.

Time to listen to the Senator. Time for a water summit.