As our state settles in to fight the Coronavirus, New Mexico’s energy workers are delivering what the radical environmental community never will: results.
You’re fracking welcome.
No doubt families are a little unsettled as they begin to cope with the household needs of an unexpected three-week-long Spring Break. Like many parents, I’m wondering how I am going to keep my children productively occupied while trying to maintain “social distancing” from the rest of the world. Judging by the calm chaos at my local grocery store, we all are there trying to stock up on items we think we’ll need to get through the next uncertain weeks.
Panic buying means some store shelves are empty, but our ability to produce more and restock is made possible by energy workers who keep the lights on and the fuel that drives delivery trucks. Can’t find something at your store? No doubt you’re clicking through Amazon or another online retailer who will bring your order right to your door, thanks to fossil fuels. The list of what is possible thanks to our energy industry would be too exhaustive to fully examine.
And that’s the point.
As each family examines what they need to be a little more self-reliant we should be grateful we’re in a nation that’s better prepared. We have the capacity to produce the energy to fight against the virus without having to rely on foreign help. Food, medicine, and electricity all made possible because of the energy workers that are under constant attack from the eco-left.
In fact, as we appreciate what the fossil fuel industry does for our way of life it’s important to also consider the disruptions we are all facing and how they are eerily similar to the “solution” of the Green New Deal.
Airplane travel plummeting? Tourism falling? Worried about New Mexico’s revenue outlook? All would be the new normal under the Green New Deal. Of course, the eco-left would scream it’s all worth it because “it’s about the planet!” I’d like them to have the guts to tell that to the patient heading to the emergency room who’s expecting the personnel, equipment, and medicine needed to recover.
This is an industry that contributes over $3 billion to our state budget and generates 39% of our total general fund revenue. Oil and gas production also hit record highs in 2018, and New Mexico now ranks third in the nation in oil production. Particularly at a time like this, we should be appreciating an industry that provides over 90,000 New Mexicans with good-paying jobs, not finding ways to destroy it.
The fact is the eco-left doesn’t have the plan or the ability to provide the same outcomes we enjoy from New Mexico’s energy industry.
At a time when our first responders, medical professionals, and delivery drivers deserve our deepest thanks, we should also send some gratitude to our energy workers who make such an effort possible.
And to their opponents on the eco-left who still get to benefit from their hard work?
You’re fracking welcome.