Michael Swickard
Many years ago in the former gold mining town of White Oaks, N.M., someone realized the power station that drove the mining equipment had enough extra capacity to send power 11 miles to nearby Carrizozo. At the time Carrizozo did not have any electrical power, which matched the fact that Carrizozo citizens had no electrical devices.
A line was strung and a light bulb at the barber shop would be turned on at noon one Saturday. For those who do not know, in the old days the barber shop was one of the unofficial meeting places in the town and, therefore, a central location sure to draw plenty of people. One cowboy was skeptical: “No way can electricity go 11 miles, even if it is downhill.”
At the time most people in Carrizozo could not see that much use for the electricity. The light was fine but the kerosene lantern worked fine. When I was young in the early 1950s there was no electricity at my grandfather’s ranch. It was just too far out of the way for any electric lines to find him.
So at the ranch wood was used for cooking and heating. Kerosene provided lighting. Washing clothes involved a tub and wash board. The car took us to town on dirt roads and used leaded gasoline. Our energy footprint was small.
Thankfully, I now live in an energy-rich state and, for the most part, do not even notice all of the millions of hours it took to put up the electric lines, put in the natural gas, pave the roads, and build energy-consuming houses.
The distribution system
What changed was not the energy resources themselves, but the distribution system. Electricity came to the ranch when the distribution system was created by the Otero County Electric Cooperative. This required a complete wiring of the ranch house, and then came another improvement: A propane tank was put in so we had a much nicer heating and cooking ability. The old Kalamazoo wood stove was moved out into a barn.
I went to college on foot because, just out of high school in 1968, I could have a car or go to college, but not both. While both cars and college were relatively cheap, my resources were limited to one. Being on foot limited many things including dating, since calling up a women and saying, “I will walk over to pick you up” was a deal breaker most of the time. Both during high school and in my first three years of college I was on foot. The bright side was no car payments or cost of operation.
In my fourth year I inherited a car and then could cheerfully complain about the awful parking situation. Walking may be good for your health, but I certainly enjoy driving.
Since I have lived on a small energy footprint, I am aware of how difficult life in our country and state would be without the energy resources being available. The light switch still is of interest to me because it means I do not have to clean kerosene lamps every Saturday morning. Natural gas is ever so much better than wood for heating and I appreciate having a vehicle instead of walking everywhere.
Still the issue
Where do we get those energy resources? We have them in New Mexico. Often our bounty of energy is at odds with people who would not wish us to use those resources. It seems New Mexico has had a love/hate relationship with the oil and gas industry dating back to the first oil and gas wells in the 1920s.
At first the industry did not make that much money for the state and most extractive revenues still were concentrated on coal, which had been a mainstay for many years. As pump jacks were assembled some people thought they ruined the pristine nature of New Mexico.
The complainers were few in number and the bounty of energy was embraced by most citizens. “Why, that is the smell of money” was a common saying. What changed for New Mexico was not the fact New Mexico had these extractive resources as much as it was building a way to market for them.
We still have those issues of getting product to market and the issue that there is a backlash against everything tied to traditional energy production. Some have a fascination with “alternative” or “green” energy as a replacement, but the reality is that green energy is a political solution, not an energy solution, and does not work in a traditional environment without government subsidies.
The extractive industries provide about a third of the money used by state government and maintain many jobs. Most importantly though, this industry provides the energy our state and country needs to survive. Just having the assets in the ground is of little importance since it is of no use in the ground. What is not realized by many critics of the industry is that it provides much of the money for the education system.
The oil and gas pioneer developers had to figure out how to drill for energy, produce the energy, and get it to market in a way that still allowed a profit. That is still the issue. I have lived energy-small and energy-large. Energy-large is better. I do not want to go back to energy-small or, even worse, no energy.
Swickard is co-host of the radio talk show News New Mexico, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. His e-mail address is michael@swickard.com.