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Having grown up there he's been the Representative for about as long as I can remember, and only wasn't in Congress for the one term of Harry Teague (D) when he lost his bid at higher office. I worked on the Congressional campaign in 2010, the year when Teague lost and Pearce returned. Over all, I would say that it depends on the part of the state you're in.Seeing as how your question comes on the eve of his reelection bid, I'll start by saying that New Mexico has a strong history of party-line voting. So, if you're older and living in Clovis odds are that you're going to vote straight Republican and if you're living and voting in Las Cruces it's more likely to be the other way around. This history often characterizes the way that people feel about candidates.Going door to door in 2010, most everyone that was vehemently opposed to Pearce was opposed to him on ideological or ethical grounds. They either thought that he was a shill for the oil companies (he's an oilman who has accepted millions from oil companies over the years and consistently votes in their interests), was corrupt (as noted by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington he was under investigation for the sale of his energy company's assets to Key Energy for double what they were worth which was was shady - and also had some gift disclosure issues), or that he was too right-wing to represent the interests of average New Mexicans (he was named one of the most conservative voters in the House by the National Journal for both 2011 and 2012).As for the supporters of Pearce that I found they tended to fall into a few camps. Either they supported him because they disliked the President and his agenda and/or they were ideologically conservative. Or, as in my own mother's case, his office had helped them or someone they knew through his (seemingly good) constituent services and had won their support regardless of his political direction.At the end of the day, Pearce has held office in his district for years. The district is known to be likely Republican (R+6), and he won his last election with an 18.2 percent margin of victory. So, it would seem that the folks in his district like him enough, but I guess we'll find out this November what they really think of him.

REDUCE AIR POLLUTION AT HOME and END ENERGY POVERTYIt is undeniable that what happens at your home has the greatest potential for environmental harm. The environment doesn’t need your help as it is inanimate like a stone or a river. What does urgently need your help are the more than 2 billion suffering energy poverty, particularly in developing nations, although research shows energy poverty has hit the developed world as well because of the dramatic rise in electricity rates from inefficient, subsidized wind and solar renewables.Many households in the UK for example have to chose whether to heat or eat and the mortality from energy poverty is found to be higher that road accident deaths.As this chart confirms the countries with the worst electricity prices are those like Germany and Denmark with the most renewables.UK electricity prices (pence per kWh)In the last ten years the real price of electricity has risen by 63%, while for gas it has gone up a staggering 115%. These a real prices, so these are the changes after having adjusted for inflation. If you were to look at it nominal prices you’d understand how energy prices became such a hot issue.Ten years ago a unit of electricity used to cost someone 7 pence, these days it might be 15. Likewise gas went from 2 to five pence. What this meant that was the average dual fuel bill rocketed from £600 to £1,300 over the course of a decade. Have a look at this article on the subject if you’d like to understand why.Average electricity prices around the world: $/kWhThe best advice to UK seniors is INSULATE INSULATE AND INSULATE at their homes to survive the increasingly colder climate.Africa’s energy poverty index now at 620 million people with no access to electricity (according to the International Renewable Energy Agency) is a social and economic tragedy inhibiting development.The Worst Kind of Poverty: Energy PovertyBy BRYAN WALSHVendors in a market in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, use candles during a power outage. Over 95% of those without electricity are either in sub-Saharan Africa or developing AsiaEnergy poverty is a lack of access to modern energy services. These services are defined as household access to electricity and clean cooking facilities (e.g. fuels and stoves that do not cause air pollution in houses).[1]Access to energy is a prerequisite of human development. Energy is needed for individual survival, it is important for the provision of social services such as education and health and a critical input into all economic sectors from household production or farming, to industry. The wealth and development status of a nation and its inhabitants is closely correlated to the type and extent of access to energy. The more ready usable energy and the more efficient energy converting technologies are available, the better are the conditions for development of individuals, households, communities, the society and its economy. Thus, improving access to energy is a continuous challenge for governments and development organisations.[2]EnergypediaAsk yourself what is the greatest environmental problem causing the most harm today? What can you do about it?The environment takes care of itself but our choice of energy using solid fuels instead of electricity will cause deadly home pollution.If your answer focused on reducing your carbon footprint at home to attack climate change this is a big mistake. There is no climate crisis of runaway warming and minute amounts of human emissions of CO2 have no material climate effect. The case for more not less CO2 is easy on a cost benefit analysis.Picking on human emissions of wholly beneficial minute amounts of CO2 the air we exhale with every breath at 35,000 ppm is a political issue with an economic agenda not an environmental problem. The UN IPCC has admitted their true agenda is not about the environment as one of their leading scientists Dr. Ottmar Endenhofer explained. He said that the Paris Accord is about wealth redistribution not the environment.The answer is without doubt AIR POLLUTION AT HOME in the developing world for cooking. There are more than 2 billion suffering from this bad environment. This pollution kills > 4 million annually world wide anad is much much worse than Covid 19.BREATHLESS IN THE KITCHENThe fruitless quest to save Indian women from slowly choking to deathThe fruitless quest to save Indian women from slowly choking to deathIndoor air pollution still gets fairly little attention for such a spectacularly lethal public-health problem.INDOOR AIR POLLUTION NOW KILLS 4 MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR — MORE THAN AIDS AND MALARIA COMBINEDHere's the basic version: About 3 billion people around the world — mostly in Africa and Asia, and mostly very poor — still cook and heat their homes by burning coal, charcoal, dung, wood, or plant residue in their homes. These homes often have poor ventilation, and the smoke can cause all sorts of respiratory diseases.All told, indoor air pollution kills between 3.5 million and 4.3 million people each year. To put that in perspective, that's more deaths than are caused by HIV/AIDS (around 1.6 million per year) and malaria (around 627,000) — combined.This month, The Lancet Respiratory Medicine published a big new report taking a detailed look at indoor air pollution — with a map showing where the deaths occur. India and sub-Saharan Africa are most heavily affected, but it's a problem almost everywhere outside of the wealthiest countries:Indoor air pollution deaths (per million people)There are a couple of key points in the Lancet study:1) Indoor air pollution has a wide variety of causes. In China, tens of millions of rural households still burn coal directly inside their homes to cook. But in India and Africa, wood and charcoal are far more common. And in countries like Kenya or Ethiopia where wood is scarce, animal dung is used. Different fuels lead to different health problems.Use of firewood in the kitchen is a great contributor of respiratory health diseasesThe journey to clean cooking in Africa traces a stark history to indoor air pollution as a norm where unfortunately till today; firewood and charcoal remain a popular choice of fuel amongst households. The UN Environment agency estimates that wood fuel and charcoal alone account for 40 per cent of energy use in Africa. These glaring statistics have not only contributed to mushrooming of enterprises and jobs creation at the expense of deforestation but a leading invisible killer among populations.Scale down commitments to clean cookingAir pollution and indoor pollution are ideally two sides of the same coin, with one contributing to another. Solutions to reducing air pollution have often centralised on industrialisation and green house gas emissions. From shifts such as riding bicycles to offsetting carbon emissions, major approaches on reducing the carbon footprint have been too elitist often leaving out those in dire need of access to energy at the fore front of discussions.In fact, experts argue that indoor air pollution contributes significantly to outdoor pollution with ripple effects such as taxpayers using a lot of money to treat respiratory diseases. These margins are worse in the global south countries with a higher poverty index and poor health care systems.Africa’s energy poverty index now at 620 million people with no access to electricity (according to the International Renewable Energy Agency) is a social and economic tragedy inhibiting development. Closer home in Kenya, over reliance on biomass led to environment legislation in 2018 placing heavy restrictions on cutting down of trees and charcoal production which unfortunately has had little effect on reducing indoor pollution. As such, discourses around air pollution should be linked to alleviating energy poverty and decentralizing clean energy technologies to those in dire need such as the pro-poor.Real efforts in the fight against air pollution can only bear fruit if energy transition that puts people at the heart of development is recognized and up-scaled. The UN Sustainable Development Agenda (SDG) 7, which calls for everyone to have access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy by 2030, will be realized if clean cooking to curb indoor pollution is a principle pillar in meeting the energy needs of people who are not connected to the grid.What can we do about it? Help these people electrify their homes with new grid electricity so they will stop outdoor and solid fuel cooking. The greatest opportunity for new grid electricity in India, Africa etc is from coal fired power plants. But the world has demonized coal with the fraudulent PARIS ACCORD because of unfounded science that minute amounts of CO2 plant food are creating a catastrophe making the planet too hot.Cook Island cooking - an umu or earth oven - tradiional cookinghttps://www.travelblog.org/Photos/3161061I am helping self sufficient Polynesian friends in Manihiki in 1963 make coral cement for home construction by hand by burning palm logs over a number of days. Like outside cooking with only solid fuels making cement by hand is also not good for your lungs and life.The science of climate and the biological benefits of CO2 do not support the PARIS ACCORD.I submit reducing home air pollution is the greatest environmental challeng for > 2 billion suffering respiratory disease. How? Help your government withdraw from the invidious PARIS ACCORD and support the use of fossil fuels including clean coal for electric power.Overcoming the greens Electricity for Africa12 Overcoming the greens Electricity for Africa is on the shopping list for most donor countries. The US is trying to help with its Power Africa program, for example.But much of the potential funding is stymied in practice because donors like the World Bank impose rules that prevent them being spent on power stations that will burn fossil fuels. Dr Chiwoko says this makes no sense in resource-rich countries: Angola and Nigeria are among the world’s top-ten oil producers. Mozambique has natural gas, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Kenya and others have billions of tons of coal in the ground. But they can’t use any of these at home with funds from the World Bank or even with loans from some democracies who decree there must be no fossil fuel in the mix.And so electricity is either not available, or it’s in short supply with long outages. And even those who have it only use the grid just for lights and maybe a fridge and TV because anything that generates heat uses a lot of power. For that they turn to paraffin or, more often, firewood.The rules, he says, are made up by people who have no idea of hardship. He thinks Africa needs its own solutions, drafted in consultation with the public. ‘This is how we will change a continent that remains so tragically in the dark’. Coal is likely to be key, and in particular, clean coal.Coal delivers 90% of South Africa’s power, and in Botswana the figure is 100%. Both Kenya and Tanzania have plans for new coal-fired generators. Greenpeace and other environmental groups get it right when they say coal is dirty, emits carbon dioxide and is not good for the planet.I’ve supported the green cause since my teens, but on campus or at UN meetings, it worries me to hear speakers shouted down by the chant: ‘There’s no such thing as clean coal’. It’s also true to say that surgery is painful and raw potatoes can be toxic enough to make you ill. That’s why you get a jab before the doctor goes to work, and we cook our spuds.Clean coal is certainly real. Professor Rosemary Falcon pioneered the Clean Coal Research Group at the University of the Witwatersrandin Johannesburg. Known locally as ‘Wits’, this is where the late Nelson Mandela studied law in the 1950s. Now retired, but still consulting, Falcon says she and her team have proved that clean coal is not only possible, but one of the cheapest ways to generate electricity. The process starts at the mine. ‘You need to separate the low-quality coal from the better grades that are already less toxic’, she says. ‘Then, we can crush it and take out chemicals that don’t contribute to a clean burn. Now you’re starting with a product that generates more heat, stays alight for longer and produces less fumes’. It’s not just South Africa though. At the other end of the continent too, clean coal is seen as part of the future. Egypt’s notorious power blackouts were among a list of grievances when, in 2011, crowds on Cairo’s Tahrir Square forced president Hosni Mubarakhttps://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2020/06/Heart-Darkness-Africa-Energy-Poverty.pdfNew Paper: Risk Of Poverty, Lower Incomes, Increased Energy Costs ‘Directly Linked With Renewable Energies’By Kenneth Richard on8. April 2019An empirical analysis using 2005-2015 data from 15 EU countries indicates that as more renewable energies (i.e., solar PV) are deployed, energy costs increase, household poverty risks rise, and incomes decline.Image Source: Pereira et al., 2019In contrast to the negative consequences of switching from fossil fuels to renewables, Dr. Tadesse Weldu Teklu affirms “CO2 emission (energy consumption) is directly correlated to economic prosperity and industrialization.”Therefore, least developed countries (LDCs) such as Ethiopia should “increase her CO2 emission per capita as much as possible” to escape from the renewables-centered “poverty trap” foisted upon them by “Earth-friendly” wealthy countries.Besides, fossil fuel consumption will inevitably continue to grow and maintain a similar share to today’s (~80%) by 2040 despite symbolic “destined to fail” Paris agreement gestures.

President Obama’s efforts to fuel innovation and entrepreneurship are wide-ranging and unprecedented. As Chief Technology Officer of the United States (a position created for the first time by President Obama), I see these efforts first-hand throughout the Administration—and as an entrepreneur who cofounded a company at age 24 and took it public ten years later, I have a special appreciation for how startups and innovation create jobs and prosperity across the countryLet’s focus on three areas where the President’s leadership is making a huge impact: promoting high-growth entrepreneurship, helping accelerate technology breakthroughs, and investing in the “building blocks” of innovation. This is by no means a comprehensive list of every Administration effort to foster innovation across the United States, but every example below is specific, impactful, and well underway.Promoting high-growth entrepreneurshipUnlocking capital: This spring President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act (http://wh.gov/QBy), a bipartisan bill that allows startups to raise capital from investors more efficiently, among other initiatives, by allowing small-dollar crowdfunding investments (http://wh.gov/3Buf), expanding mini-public offerings, and creating an “IPO on-ramp” consistent with investor protections. This is on top of an Administration commitment of $2 billion to match private investment in high-growth companies over the next five years through vehicles such as Impact Investment Funds (http://1.usa.gov/rfYCI8) and Early Stage Innovation Funds (http://1.usa.gov/JFf36a). The Small Business Investment Company program just had a record year in 2011 of helping over 1,000 businesses get $2.6 billion in capital.Nurturing entrepreneurial talent: President Obama has taken executive action to make it much easier for graduates to manage student loan debt (http://wh.gov/uc1) and pursue an entrepreneurial path (http://wh.gov/TX5). The Administration has launched new mentorship and training opportunities for thousands of entrepreneurs starting new high-growth companies—including military veterans (http://1.usa.gov/NHNTE8), undergraduate engineers (http://1.usa.gov/qJOiWK), and clean energy entrepreneurs (http://1.usa.gov/fm47Pr) and students (http://1.usa.gov/o0kdfS) — and is engaged in sustained efforts to attract and retain immigrant entrepreneurs who create jobs here in the US (http://1.usa.gov/NglcgG).Speeding up “lab to market” research: The President has directed all federal research agencies to help accelerate innovation (http://wh.gov/Tuh) by speeding up grants to startups. The National Science Foundation launched an Innovation Corps (http://1.usa.gov/pQSt45) to get teams of scientists out of the lab and starting new companies. Over twenty federal agencies have cooperated to fund regional entrepreneurial ecosystems (http://1.usa.gov/qV9X0e), and are dramatically streamlining patent licenses for entrepreneurs in clean energy (http://techportal.eere.energy.gov/category/startup_america) and biotech (http://www.ott.nih.gov/startup).Liberating data to fuel innovation: The Administration has launched a series of Open Data Initiatives—in health (http://wh.gov/5bg), public safety (http://wh.gov/v9W), education (http://wh.gov/uDZ), and energy (http://wh.gov/OGKY) —to stimulate entrepreneurial innovation using newly unleashed data from government and other sources. As a model, decades ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (http://noaa.gov) began making weather data available for free electronic download by anyone. Entrepreneurs utilized these data (http://data.gov) to create weather newscasts, websites, mobile applications, insurance, and much more. Today, entrepreneurs are using freely available government data and building apps and services that help Americans in an expanding number of ways – e.g., apps and services that help people find the right health care provider for their family, identify the college that provides the best value for their money, save money on electricity bills through smarter shopping (http://wh.gov/REo), keep their families safe by knowing which products have been recalled, and much, much more.The Startup America Partnership: In response to the President’s call to action to support American entrepreneurs, the nonprofit Startup America Partnership (http://s.co) has mobilized well over $1 billion in private-sector commitments to help support startups and has launched entrepreneur-led coalitions in Startup Regions (http://www.s.co/regions/map) across the country.Helping accelerate technology breakthroughsBiotechnology: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a new National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) (http://www.ncats.nih.gov/) to speed up the development of new diagnostics, treatments, and cures by building new bridges between the lab and clinic.Nanotechnology: The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) (http://nano.gov) is investing in areas such as nano-electronics, to foster a revolution in computing comparable to the transition from the vacuum tube to the transistor.Advanced manufacturing: President Obama launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) (http://1.usa.gov/Q8uopK), a national effort that brings together industry, universities, and the federal government to invest in the emerging technologies that create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance our global competitiveness (read the AMP Steering Committee report: http://wh.gov/xTFw). As a first step in building a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (http://1.usa.gov/N0izNg), the Administration is funding a pilot institute for additive manufacturing (3-D printing) (http://1.usa.gov/HhHgBC). The President has also launched a National Robotics Initiative (http://wh.gov/rEt) and a Materials Genome Initiative (http://wh.gov/yF4) to help accelerate manufacturing innovation.Space exploration: Guided by the President’s National Space Policy (http://wh.gov/3HB), NASA, the Department of Defense, and other agencies are advancing U.S. capabilities and expanding American industry’s role in developing next-generation applications—including the historic docking of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft (http://1.usa.gov/Nk2qQD) with the International Space Station.Health care technology: Building on the Recovery Act (http://wh.gov/recovery) and the Affordable Care Act (http://wh.gov/healthreform), the Administration is continuously engaged in major efforts to promote health information technology adoption, reform payment incentives to reward value instead of volume, and liberate health information for the benefit of patients while protecting privacy.Educational technologies: To advance technologies that will transform teaching and learning, the President launched the Digital Promise partnership (http://1.usa.gov/Ole1n1) and championed a new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Education (ARPA-ED) (http://1.usa.gov/h9kob4).Clean energy: The Administration is working to accelerate game-changing energy breakthroughs by funding the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) (http://arpa-e.energy.gov/) and Energy Innovation Hubs (http://1.usa.gov/NHPOII), while pursuing 21st century grand challenges like SunShot (http://1.usa.gov/jignu6) (making solar energy cost-competitive with fossil fuels) and EV Everywhere (http://wh.gov/XFe) (making electric vehicles as affordable and convenient to own and drive as today’s gasoline-powered vehicles).Investing in “building blocks” of innovationResearch and development: The market innovations that drive economic progress so often depend on breakthroughs in fundamental science. President Obama has implemented the largest increase in federally funded research and development (R&D) in history (http://1.usa.gov/h1cg9G), and is making continuous investments to fuel “Big Data” (http://1.usa.gov/OlfERF) research and double funding for key basic research agencies.Education: The President has led the charge to provide every K-12 student in America with a world-class education, including the historic Race to the Top (http://1.usa.gov/2rYyB0) investments to drive comprehensive reform at the state and district levels. The Investing in Innovation (I3) fund (http://1.usa.gov/Nk4R5x) supports school districts and nonprofit partners to develop, validate, and implement innovative evidence-based practices that accelerate student learning and achievement. And the President has doubled down on education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by launching a STEM Master Teacher Corps (http://1.usa.gov/Olgpdu) along with public/private investments to scale up high-quality STEM programs (http://changetheequation.org), prepare 100,000 STEM teachers over the next decade (http://wh.gov/tZl), and graduate 10,000 more engineers every year (http://1.usa.gov/ppgPfX).Internet: The President signed legislation to invest $7 billion in broadband infrastructure, computers, and training (http://www.broadbandusa.gov/) for consumers and businesses nationwide, and has moved to dramatically expand high-speed wireless service for consumers and first responders through both direct executive action (http://1.usa.gov/Olh0M9) and legislation (http://wh.gov/l17z). Through the US Ignite partnership (http://1.usa.gov/OlhmCt), the Administration has also laid the groundwork for next-generation ultra-fast broadband networks. And during the national debate over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and related legislation, the Administration made clear that the important task of protecting intellectual property online must not threaten an open and innovative internet (http://1.usa.gov/Nk5P1S).Smart grid: To build a 21st century electric system, the President led the charge to make over $4.5 billion in smart grid (http://smartgrid.gov) investments for electricity delivery and energy reliability modernization, along with new smart grid initiatives to empower consumers (http://wh.gov/DpJ), improve the reliability of the electric grid, and spur innovation.Patent system: President Obama signed the bipartisan America Invents Act (http://wh.gov/gOT) after nearly a decade of efforts to reform the nation’s outdated patent laws. The new law is helping entrepreneurs and inventors avoid costly delays and unnecessary litigation so they can focus instead on innovation and growth.Again, this list is not comprehensive—for more details, check out the White House Startup America Initiative (http://1.usa.gov/xmHjcs) and the President’s Strategy for American Innovation (http://1.usa.gov/9bT9XU). And I have barely touched on all the ways that President Obama has fostered massive innovation within government, from unprecedented use of prizes and challenges (http://wh.gov/ho3) to the new Presidential Innovation Fellows program (http://wh.gov/innovationfellows) that pairs top innovators from outside and inside government to implement cutting-edge solutions for the American people.To stay up to date on President Obama’s innovation agenda, you can follow me on Twitter @todd_park and @whitehouseostp.