I lived and worked in New Mexico for eight years -- though I didn't live in Mora County, I often traveled through it on days off or trips to Colorado. I wasn't so much a community activist at that time, either -- more aligned and active through one or another of the "big greens".
I like this article by Staci Matlock for several reasons. First, she represents the issue of fracking in the context of life in this part of New Mexico. Then she goes a little deeper than many reporters are willing to go these days into the complexities of politics in multicultural communities and the dynamics shaped by colonization, settlement, land use, land ownership, water rights, and so on. Anyone who does organizing in multiracial/multicultural communities will likely appreciate the situation there. I really enjoyed reading this article and getting a deeper look at a place I was usually just traveling through...
People around the U.S. and the world who are deeply concerned about the influence of big corporations and the potential environmental damage from hydraulic fracturing methods — used to tap oil and gas supplies — cheer on Mora County.
But there’s more to this story — nuances and tensions that are hard to uncover unless you were born and raised in this hard-scrabble, beautiful and resilient Northern New Mexico county.
Read the rest of the story at www.santafenewmexican.com
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