Don Usner
Online, Jan. 31: “Dixon Garlic Farmer, Revered Author Stanley Crawford Dies at 86″
Do as he did
Live a life so that someone can tell stories like this about who you were. What a beautiful legacy. Peace and comfort to his family and friends.
Sarah Boses, via Twitter @sweetsprocket23
Immense loss
Stanley Crawford memorialized Northern New Mexico and the beauty of rural life in his stories. What an immense loss to the literary community, and to the Dixon community.
US Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández via twitter @RepTeresaLF
Value added
Very sad to hear. I really valued his work.
Nicholas Birns, via Twitter @nicholasbirns
Morning Word, Jan. 24: “EV Tax Credits Pass First Committee”
Read before embrace
The suffering inflicted on humanity and damage to the environment in the construction of electric vehicles should be considered when labeling them as “clean.” Before embracing this complex technological solution to climate chaos, read Cobalt Red by Siddarth Kara. Electric power-trains may be four times more efficient and cheaper to operate than internal combustion vehicles, but it takes 10,000 or more miles to zero-out the EV’s energy cost. The environment and social effects may be incalculable. Kara’s book documents the extractive process to mine heterogenite (nickel, manganese, cobalt) as well as copper in the Republic of Congo by men, women and children who earn under $2 per day. These minerals are essential to build electro-chemical batteries and EVs. Assurances by manufacturers of “fair trade” practices and “cleaner” future batteries should be scrutinized.
This does not ignore the deceptive practices of petroleum industries who for decades have hidden the deleterious effects of hydrocarbon combustion to our world but illustrates the contradiction of replacing one evil with another. Rather than embrace a technology that supports our convenient form of mobility, we might consider changing our transportation system, with public transit, walk-able and bicycle-friendly communities, energy education and reduced consumption.
Colin Messer, Santa Fe
