Eric Williams ericwphoto.com

 

The Earth Day Network reports that 1 billion people marked the eco-holiday on April 22. But with consciousness-raising taking place on such a massive scale, it’s easy to overlook the everyday people who fight to keep our corner of the planet clean and healthy. For them, eco-activism is not a once-yearly event.

For the eco warriors profiled in this week’s feature, the work is hard, the hours long and unpaid. It’s about attending meetings, learning how to speak up in public, keeping track of paperwork, forging alliances with neighbors. It involves concerted, long-term effort in the face of what often looks like an uphill battle.

New mayor of Sunland Park is 24-years-old.

Kirtland is going to look a little harder for leaked jet fuel.

Dick Clark made stars. R.I.P.

Paramedics in N.M. work 72-hour shifts.

DOH to medical board: You can't ask the feds to reclassify marijuana.

Romney says something weird about cookies.

Killer swan.

Sex robots are our future.

Vatican cracks down on feminist nuns.

"Hopefully" may spell the end of grammar.

DoubleOh.

Passengers say an American cruise ship ignored a drifting fishing boat, leaving two men to die.

• In the game of chess, you can never let your opponent see all your pieces (sloppy) [ Thu Apr 19 2012 11:19 AM ]
  
• Sex robots can only go one of two ways (Madmammajamma) [ Thu Apr 19 2012 11:39 AM ]
  

Thousands pilgrimage to Chimayó today.

Las Vegas, N.M., fights fracking and bans oil and gas drilling.

Why Canada should be cheered for ditching the penny.

Menacing Easter bunnies.

Kid sells his kidney for an iPhone.

Marine Corps pilot says he played tag with a UFO in the ’70s.

Guy gets naked for Opposite Day.

Jesus appears in duct tape in Albuquerque.

Coast Guard sinks a ghost ship with a cannon.

Ex-Gov. Gary Johnson says making Gov. Susana Martinez the veep pick would be Sarah Palin, Part Deux.

Smallest town in the States sells for only $900,000.

Why Catholics really eat fish on Fridays.

Pit bull takes a bullet for his owner.

Chevy Chase is an asshole.

Margaret Wright

 

I'm still poring over the findings of a U.S. Forest Service study released last month that gave Albuquerque a high ranking in two key areas—and neither has stellar tidings for our local climate and quality of life.

Researchers documented a high loss of our urban forest area and an increase of impervious ground cover. This means that trees disappeared across the city at the same time that rooftops and pavement spread. The study found us up there in terms of tree loss with New Orleans and fast-growing, drought-stricken Houston.

More impervious surfaces mean more challenges for our thirsty city. Water that falls on an open field has a drastically different outcome compared to water falling on blacktop. The more paved-over, compacted area there is, the less water is absorbed into the ground. It’s also more likely that the water that does soak in (or run off to the river) is polluted and prone to flooding.

You can check out the full text of the Forest Service study here.