The New Mexico congressional candidate deleted his progressive social media accounts

A New Mexico House Candidate Defends the U.S. Oil and Gas Industry: Why We Shouldn’t Let It Happen

A Democratic House candidate in New Mexico, campaigning as a moderate in a tightly contested race, deleted tweets attacking the oil and gas industry, rationalizing rioting in summer 2020, and comparing the Trump administration to the Ku Klux Klan.

Since winning the Democratic nomination for New Mexico’s second congressional district in June, Vasquez has said he supports protecting the oil and gas industry in New Mexico and that renewable energy should not come at the expense of the state’s fossil fuel industry. One of the nation’s most important and active sources of fossil fuel production is located in the district.

It is one of 19 House of Representatives races that are rated as toss ups by Inside Elections, and they are the ones that could determine control of the house this November.

Vasquez has also promoted himself as a supporter of police in advertisements. Following the murder of George Floyd, he deleted a post that talked about rioting in cities. While wearing a face mask and speaking with a local police station during a 2020 protest in which he said he opposed de-funding the police, he said he supported such a policy. In the clip, he said that police reform was needed in this country. It’s not just about defunding police, it’s about taking away the privileges of white people over everyone else.

A May 2020 tweet that was now deleted claimed that the tip of a white supremacist system ends in cold-blooded murder of black people. “There is so much to undo, to unravel this system & shift power structures to fundamentally change this country. That’s why the cars and buildings are burning.”

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/14/politics/kfile-gabe-vasquez-new-mexico-deleted-progressive-tweets/index.html

Do We Stand Up for the Right & Evil? The Case of New Mexico and Trump’s AmeriKKKa, According to Carlsbad Current-Argus

The oil and gas industry is very important to New Mexico, according to the local Carlsbad Current-Argus. The district is important, it supports an economy that is based on fossil fuels and small businesses that support them.

I urge my fellow Dems to refrain from playing to the R’s talking points. It is ok to support the Green New Deal, speak of progressive immigration reform, and support Medicare for all. The since-removed account from November 2020 had the message #staystrong.

Investing in oil and gas is an irresponsible idea, which was linked to by an opinion article.

The pardoning of white, wealthy men who should be in prison is a sign of the broken justice system in this country. The white & privileged escape justice, while the poor, black, Indigenous & people of color are disproportionately targeted, sentenced & jailed #AmeriKKKa,” he wrote.

“Pendejos. Racistbaiters, Trump’s army of con men, miles of private border wall will be eroded, and racial tensions will continue to escalate. No one will take responsibility. Trump’s AmeriKKKa. What a disgusting mess,” Vasquez tweeted.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/14/politics/kfile-gabe-vasquez-new-mexico-deleted-progressive-tweets/index.html

Climate Action in the Post-Inflationary Era: Towards a Fair, Fair, and Ecological Model of the American Economy

The only person who President Donald Trump pardoned was Steve Bannon, his former adviser, and two others pleaded guilty.

Vasquez attacked a commentator who was against student loan forgiveness in November 2020, writing “Oh you mean this American economy really isn’t fair for white man?” What will you ever do?”

In another, he attacked electing people of color who did not “think like us,” saying they were “vendidos out there clamoring to be part of the white establishment.” “Vendidos” is a Spanish term that implies someone is a “sell out.”

Some environmental advocates are spooked by the prospect of new kinds of pipes going through their communities. Oil and gas companies like Occidental, on the other hand, have been eager to adopt carbon capture tech if it can keep their business afloat despite federal and state efforts to transition to clean energy. Companies can keep producing fossil fuels and petrochemicals — and generating other kinds of pollution like soot and smog in the process — while purporting to fight climate change at the same time.

What can be done about that? I spoke to the chair of the subcommittee about the landscape for climate action after the Inflation Reduction Act, and how tools could be used to bring those companies to account.

The method for slowing climate change is capturing carbon dioxide emissions from smokestacks. It could pose problems for communities already saddled with pollution if it reduces CO2 emissions.

Sharing that infrastructure helps solve a big problem for carbon capture: that it’s been prohibitively expensive to deploy. It makes sense for the company to build a hub near a high concentration of refinery and chemical plants. And the Houston area happens to host the biggest petrochemical manufacturing complex in the Western hemisphere.

In other words, carbon capture becomes a way for companies to cast themselves as environmentally friendly because they say they’re dealing with their greenhouse gas emissions. They are not necessarily tackling other pollutants that affect air quality and public health. New carbon capture infrastructure might bring new risks.

The people who live nearby are also affected by pollution because they have a lot of it. And the poor air quality isn’t spread out evenly across the Houston area, according to a 2020 report commissioned by two environmental organizations: the Natural Resources Defense Council and Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services.

Poor households and neighborhoods of color are more likely to be affected by pollution in the region. White residents are exposed less to pollution than residents of color. People living in poverty were similarly exposed to 50 percent more pollution burden than more affluent households, which is even more of a reason to wean the economy off of fossil fuels and petrochemicals. Instead, carbon capture might do the opposite by prolonging the life of polluting facilities.

An added risk can be brought upon by the Pipelines with CO2. Carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide were released from the captured carbon dioxide near the majority-Black community of Satartia, Mississippi. More than forty people were taken to the hospital after the town was shrouded in a haze. Even uncontaminated CO2 at high concentrations is an asphyxiant that can choke airways and even car engines, stalling vehicles as people try to get away.