Santa Fe: A county of whiners?

No, I’m not saying that EVERYONE in Santa Fe is a whiner, but the public comments made at a recent meeting held by the County to discuss potential oil and gas drilling in the county by Houston-based Tecton Energy company certainly brought out the worst in NIMBY types. One member of the throng, a Dennis Marker, stated, “I see it as your job to make Santa Fe the most business unfriendly, unreasonable environment for oil and gas exploration in the history of the United States.” Without citing all the comments, the 500 or so people who attended the hearing were almost universally opposed to drilling.
To the average wealthy Santa Fean it would seem that oil and gas drilling are good enough to support their kid’s education and for the hicks in Roswell, Hobbs and Farmington, but heaven forbid they have to see an oil and gas well on their way to and from their favorite art gallery.
I might add that I’ve been to Santa Fe (city and county) many times and I have seen many cars on the roads, not to mention petroleum-based asphalt covering the roads, and plastic bottles and cups in wide usage. It would seem to me that New Mexico would be better off if the bulk of oil and gas taxes were directed to local governments as opposed to being sent to Santa Fe. Perhaps then at least the same people who bear the relatively minor “costs” associated with oil and gas drilling would reap the benefits and the folks in Santa Fe could rely on movie stars like Julie Roberts for their livelihoods.