OPINION: Talk of the Town

Fiber optic installation is for the wealthy

The column in the Sunday Journal on May 18 by Carlos Rosas, a vice president and general manager for EZEE Fiber in New Mexico, was a predictable excuse for rather wanton destruction with little attempt to remedy the issues.

His statement that “we’re ranked last in the nation” for a variety of issues will not be remedied by the overpriced EZEE fiber optic installation. Being 43rd in the nation for broadband, if that is true, is mainly because we are a relatively poor state, with few that will be able to afford the entry level EZEE broadband at $70.00 per month for only 500 mbps. I have Xfinity broadband at 600 mbps for less than $60.00 per month with cable TV as well. So, EZEE is not providing broadband for the masses, but for the wealthy.

Be honest Rosas, and admit it’s all for profit, not the masses. I agree that the EZEE construction should be paused, and attempts made to repair the damage before moving on. And 4,000 subscribers out of a population over 600,000 is a paltry number to be lecturing us New Mexicans on what we should be paying for, and accepting damage to our streets and sidewalks just for your profit. Again, look at your own numbers and be honest.

Michael Shackley

Albuquerque

Vaping is a problem in New Mexico schools

Before I had entered high school I had already seen the problems with vaping in schools, which is kind of sad to think that middle schoolers are doing damage to their undeveloped bodies, but that is a thing you see nowadays.

My younger brother, who is a freshman this year, got involved with vaping when he entered high school. It affected his grades and his behavior. He got so addicted to it that he couldn’t even stop. He would tell me that he would try to quit, but he couldn’t as he would experience withdrawal symptoms that he couldn’t bear and he’d go right back to it. When he was finally caught by our mother, he saw that he really had a problem and quit, but not even a month later he had a seizure. It was late at night and when I saw him, he was still seizing. I looked back and thought to myself, “Why didn’t I say something earlier, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten as bad as he did.”

Vaping isn’t only a high school problem, kids when I went to middle school were already vaping in bathrooms. The question is how do these kids have access to such devices? For my brother it was his friend’s parents, and I am guessing for some kids, it’s a family member or a friend. It’s sad, but it’s the world we live in at the moment.

Desiree Torres

Albuquerque

A vote for Haaland is a vote for public lands

To protect New Mexico’s public lands, I support Deb Haaland to be elected as New Mexico’s next governor.

My wife and I recently visited Bandelier National Monument. We experienced the human past, present and future. We marveled at nature’s diverse beauty. National Park Service employees proved knowledgeable and helpful.

Bandelier is one of 15 national parks and monuments in New Mexico. Each connects visitors to the world around us and to the larger human community.

Under the Trump administration, public lands stand in grave peril. The Department of Governmental Efficiency has fired approximately 1,000 NPS staffers. Others have left employment voluntarily. Further staff cuts loom. As the president and Congress consider the next federal budget, the Sierra Club reports that proposed cuts would remove $5 billion from the Department of the Interior, including over $900 million from the NPS.

Such steps endanger our public lands and devastate the dedicated public servants who care for them. They will have a profound negative impact on the millions of annual visitors.

Haaland understands the significance of our public lands. She has long enjoyed them. As secretary of the Interior, she oversaw their care and management. Haaland maintains her deep commitment to protect our public lands for the sake of the lands and for the sake of the larger community.

Over the next few years, the Trump administration may attempt to pull further funding from public lands. This could result in the erasure of history and the exploitation of public lands for the private gain of a few.

At such a time, Haaland’s understanding of, and commitment to, our public lands qualify her to serve as our governor. She knows the wonder of our public lands. And she knows how to defend them. She has my support in her campaign.

William Koenig

Albuquerque

Electric vehicles will improve our air quality

Early Albuquerque was an oasis of clean air that drew people from all over the country to cure tuberculosis and asthma. Now, its air quality is bad enough that the American Lung Association tells us we need to fix it. Why is our air now so bad? Car and truck exhaust. Ultraviolet light from our plentiful sunshine turns exhaust to lung-attacking ozone. Twenty days in the year with alarming ozone levels have earned us an “F” rating. On these days, people with severe lung conditions suffer terribly. And needlessly. Because we can get rid of this constant exhaust. Vehicles with no exhaust pipes (electric vehicles) are the best friends our lungs have.

Our forward-looking governor and Legislature are leading the way with clean transportation legislation to reduce the carbon that vehicles burn, reducing exhaust. Selling more EVs is a slam-dunk to do this with no loss of convenience. Just ask anyone who drives an EV.

New Mexico just hit a bump in the road, though. A well-funded group in Washington, D.C., does not think we should have the power to solve our own problems. Their large advertising campaign ridiculously claimed that, “We won’t have cars,” because of New Mexico’s clean transportation legislation. It recently directed constituents in Gabe Vasquez’s House district to pressure him to vote for a bill to block New Mexico from improving our own air. Uncharacteristically, he gave in to that outside pressure and voted for the bill to give up our state’s rights.

We will need all our pioneering spirit to keep fighting for our right to have clean air once again and to stop sabotaging our climate future at the same time, as we support clean transportation.

Tim Buxton

Albuquerque