I attended the gas and oil regulation plan meeting Nov. 18 at the County Clerk's Office. The turnout was not as it should have been, given the importance of the issue.

I think the drilling moratorium has lulled people into a false sense of security. There is much more work to be done, and public participation is essential to good government. I was pleased to hear John Micou, Drilling Santa Fe, and Kim Sorvig, a UNM Professor, react favorably about the changes that have been included.

Robert Freilich and his colleagues have indicated that this is a most comprehensive plan and that it's rivaled only by those created for New York and California. I want to thank the county commissioners for understanding the importance of creating these regulations and of hearing what the people have to say. Environmental protection for this fragile land is the future; oil and gas drilling isn't.

Muriel Fariello

Ranchitos de Galisteo

Water Users' Association

With reservations

To avoid any confusion regarding a Nov. 18 letter to the editor, "Covert omnibus bill would fund Aamodt": The Pojoaque Basin Water Alliance and a recent poll support the Aamodt settlement if the settlement provides a water system to the tribes only. This is the best way to preserve our precarious aquifer, being that the majority of development is on Indian lands.

Dick Rochester

president, PBWA

Growing pains

The election frenzy is over, and the best man by far has won. Americans are expecting positive change, which is critically needed. But one very important issue may bring dangerously negative change — the question of population stability in America.

It is projected that in the next 30 to 40 years, this country will acquire 100 million or more additional citizens, many uneducated and unskilled. The environmental, infrastructure and social impact of all these new people very possibly will be overwhelmingly negative. We already have too many people and too few decent jobs.

A recent heart-rending New York Times video on the Internet featured five intelligent young black people in Philadelphia who cannot find work of any kind. What are they to do? I urge people to read How many Americans? co-authored by Lindsey Grant of Santa Fe and published by the Sierra Club.

Dayton Lummis

Santa Fe

The debt game

Let me get this straight: The private Federal Reserve Bank "loaned" the U.S. government $700 billion Federal Reserve notes created out of thin air, without risk to itself, so we could give them to Wall Street bankers, brokers, speculators and swindlers because they screwed up, and now we have to pay this "loan" back to the Federal Reserve plus interest? The same goes for all the money spent and being spent on the Iraq war. Isn't this just a little bit suspicious? It seems like, to the Federal Reserve, increasing our "debt" is the name of the game! And just exactly how is this supposed to solve the economic crisis created ultimately by the Wall Street and Federal Reserve criminals?

In my humble opinion, the money should be given to no one, and doing nothing is the best approach when no one knows what to do. We shouldn't reward negligence and incompetence. The same goes for people who really need to learn how to live within their means.

Bill Lyne

Lamy

Free speech

Remember folks, the right of free speech is one of the most important aspects of American life. BTW ... who's Gregg Bemis?

Elizabeth Nunn

Santa Fe

Thanks 4 support

Thanks to everyone who came out to support the
Santa Fe Toys 4 Tots benefit, Nov. 2. We had another successful benefit. With all the support and donations we are able to help out many more children in Santa Fe Public Schools. Thanks also to our wonderful members and volunteers. Without them, none of this would have been possible.

Linda Gurulé

Santa Fe

Home on the range

I couldn't disagree more with your Nov. 18 editorial, "State: show caution as partner to wind power," in which you suggest that windmills are ugly. What's ugly are cell-phone towers and cows and the devastation they leave behind. A windmill is similar to the sails of a ship; the beauty lies in the ingenuity of the design. Interestingly enough, T. Boone Pickens and his wife, Madeleine, are mentioned in this same issue as proponents of wild-horse adoption and wind energy.

Juxtaposed with coal-fired and nuclear-powered waste, there is simply no comparison. As for cows, the Bureau of Land Management should be ashamed for the corrupted, subsidized, wholesale destruction of our fragile lands. Western beef value is a joke at best.

Wind farms (with roads), solar panels, wild horses, wolves and coyotes — ahhhh how beautiful and profitable it would be, especially without the pollution and smell of cow patties.

Chuck Wooldridge

Santa Fe