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Brickbat: Chertoff

The desert has an aura of profound timelessness, Edward Abbey once observed, that deserves the greatest respect. Michael Chertoff, the nation's homeland security secretary, should absorb a tad of that natural, desert patience before plowing his border fence, unchecked, through 6.9 miles of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in southeastern Arizona.

Chertoff has decided to waive a number of environmental laws - and wave off a federal judge's ruling - so he can continue work on the fence, out of concern for what he says are "unacceptable risks to our nation's security." He argues the 2005 fence bill gives him this authority. Federal Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle had halted the project, saying it hadn't undergone required environmental assessments. Her decision responded to a lawsuit by the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife.

From where we sit, in the high desert not all that far from southeastern Arizona, the environmentalists appear absolutely sincere. This is not about immigration politics. It's about genuine concern for the damage that a fence could do to life - to the fragile desert ecology - that subsists atop what Abbey called "the bare bones of existence, the elemental and fundamental, the bedrock which sustains us."

It's a concern The Tribune long has shared about heedless human development - such as highways and fences - that impede the natural and historic migrations of species.

Environmental advocates maintain that the nation can secure its borders and protect ecologically significant public lands. The time it would take to address their environmental concerns would be only a fraction of a tick on the desert's broad clock.

The nation's security rests on more than a moment in human history. It also depends on our nation's long-term respect for and harmonious behavior toward nature.

Put the brakes on the bulldozers for a while.

Bouquet: Thomas-Weger

Jon Thomas-Weger, president of the Central New Mexico Labor Council, was an increasingly rare breed of professional - a union official and an outspoken labor advocate.

The labor movement these days is a much-diminished version of its former self, for various reasons - ranging from the decline of large-scale manufacturing in the United States to the adoption of progressive management practices by some employers. Even so, union officials routinely are hoisted up as bete noires by a number of business advocates and politicians who have issues with labor.

So a certain amount of obvious stress goes with the job. We're not sure if this had anything to do with Weger's death last Thursday from a massive heart attack. We do, however, remember him as energetic and upbeat, engaged in public life and - closer to home - repeatedly eager to write for The Tribune's Insight & Opinion page, in behalf of New Mexico's often hard-pressed employees.

We were in touch with him last week, and we published the last advocacy piece he wrote for us on Tuesday, titled "Healthy wages for hospital workers." He seemed happy and robust and appeared to feel he was fighting the good fight.

We will miss him and his contributions to important public debates.