Ex-astronaut Schmitt gets energy post (NM-global warming denier!)

Santa Fe New Mexican ^ | January 6, 2011 | Barry Massey/ AP

[CedarDave]

Former astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon and served in the U.S. Senate, was nominated Thursday by Gov. Susana Martinez to run a state agency that oversees energy production in New Mexico.

Schmitt was selected as cabinet secretary of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. Schmitt, 75, was one of the last men to walk on the moon as part of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. He won election to the Senate in 1976, but lost his re-election bid in 1982 to Democrat Jeff Bingaman, who remains in the Senate.

Martinez said the Schmitt's task is to make sure "we are developing the resources responsibly without killing jobs."

Schmitt said New Mexico has been "ill served" by regulations during the Richardson administration, contending that jobs in the energy industry have moved to other states.

[Atlas Sneezed]

And Slayton wasn’t much better...

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I have read a LOT about the program (including Kraft’s and Kranz’ latest unvarnished bios), and never heard significant hostility to Slayton.

What’s the story, and where can I learn more?

[Texas Fossil]

never to have served in the military

OK, what I meant, not said. Others were all "from" the military.

[Texas Fossil]

I admired Jack most for beating “little Joe” Montoya.

Those were good times that my family remembers with pleasure. I still have mission patches and some other stuff from then. Even have a hologram pic of Jack in his mission suit.

All else aside, he has always been a fine man.

[BlessingsofLiberty]

I am so proud of Governor Martinez...she is amazing.

[anymouse]

And finally get some He3 lunar mining going.

[Mike Darancette]

Gov. Susana Martinez

She's getting stuff done. Look for NM to become a success story if she gets her way.

[The KG9 Kid]

Good luck to the libs in trying to besmirch Harrison Schmidt’s reputation. He’s like Brainiac from the planet Smartron. The libs will only clown themselves.

[palmer]

"Martinez has never said one word about how important it is to have clean air and water in our beautiful state and instead has spent her short time in office ripping down basic environmental protections for our citizens," Forrester said.

As usual the climate change people are so divorced from reality that they must blatantly lie about what they are proposing. If they got their way, energy would be so expensive that people would have to tear down forests to survive (think Haiti). So instead they point to the tiny bit of other pollution from the energy industry itself as if that matters.

[CedarDave]

Thanks for the link!

[Mamzelle]

Slayton had the attitude, from the start, that a spaceflight was owed to him. His sheer wonderfulness entitled him. However, flying in space requires perfect health because of the risks to a mission if any health problems show up during launch, flight, etc.

So he was nasty beyond belief to the flight surgeon personnel, because their findings and judgements got in the way of his lust to fly. Finally he went up on the Soyuz hookup, but was unspeakably arrogant about the delay he had to "endure" to pass the physical.

I was kind of a fly on the wall. Schmitt, frankly, was one of the few non-a$$holes among the astronaut corps. But he was a scientist.

Too much Hollywood.

Just my enraging opinion. lol.

Schmitt resigned from the Planetary Society, an organization formed by astronauts to give annual awards to each other. There are other astronauts on that society who tried to ride "global warming" to better speaking fee gigs. But Shmitt knew that the science was crap and quit. But you can see other big names on the list that were in on the hoax.

[LegendHasIt]

Allright! Long time no see Jack!
(Although I'm a bit surprised that he would take the job, kind of a step down from the old days.)

Way to go Susana. I'm very pleased with your decisions and choices so far. You may save NM from itself.

[CedarDave]

(Although I'm a bit surprised that he would take the job, kind of a step down from the old days.)

As I said above, I see him as sort of an interim secretary to get things started and turned around. Given his age and the demands of the job, I would be very surprised if he stays the entire four years unless the deputy and division secretaries really step up to the plate to encourage and support the new agenda. This would relieve him from major day-to-day responsibilities and instead use him for general direction (though not a figurehead).