Progressive Face-Off: Native American Tribes and Environmentalists at Impasse Over Coal

GREEN IS GOOD
by Margaret Smith

With a population of 6,946 people, the Hopi Tribe in northeastern Arizona has always been known as a relatively peaceful group. Short for Hopituh Shi-nu-mu, their name literally translates to "The Peaceful People" or "Peaceful Little Ones" in English, and the Hopi culture is deeply rooted in religion, with ethics based in peace and goodwill.

Don't think that means they're afraid to stand up for themselves, though.

In a unanimous vote, on Monday of last week the Hopi Tribal Council approved a resolution stating that environmentalists have worked to deprive their tribe of markets for its coal resources and the revenue that industry brings to provide jobs, sustain governmental solutions and secure the survival of the Hopi tradition and culture.

The resolution states that environmentalists "have manufactured and spread misinformation concerning the water and energy resources of the Hopi Tribe in an effort to instill unfounded fears into the hearts and minds of the Hopi public."

The resolution also declared a number of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Grand Canyon Trust, and any organizations affiliated with them, as unwelcome on Hopi land, pitting two groups against each other that normally work in harmony.

In the past, Native American tribes and environmentalists have joined together on a number of issues, such as opposition to uranium mining and the protection of mountains that American Indians consider sacred. Coal, however, is a much different story.

An abundant resource on most reservations, coal has long been a guaranteed source of revenue for many Native American tribes, and they have depended on the money to fund their governments and pay the salaries of tribal employees. On the Hopi Reservation, revenues from the coal mined by Peabody Energy, the world's largest private-sector coal company, on northern Arizona's Black Mesa make up about 70 percent of the tribe's nearly $15 million budget.

As clean air and climate change become hot-button issues in today's political debate, however, the mining and use of coal has been more and more frowned upon. Environmentalists have long waged a war against the use of coal, favoring renewable resources like wind and solar power instead. In 2006, environmentalists successfully shut down the Mohave Generating Station along the Arizona-Nevada border, one of only two customers for the Hopi tribe's coal. The result was the loss of 400 paychecks, and about $6.5 million to $8.5 million in tribal revenue per year. Hopi legal counsel Scott Canty told AP that the tribe is still "reeling" from the loss.

"To talk about taking the remaining revenues away is just unfathomable," he added. "It would set them back tremendously."

Indeed, that's what most environmentalists have been discussing. Coal from the Hopi reservation now fuels the Navajo Generating Station near Page, AZ, and environmentalists have been pushing for upgrades there in order to reduce emissions. For Hopi tribe members, it was the last straw.

Environmentalists, such as Andy Bessler of the Sierra Club, have said that the environmental group respects tribal sovereignty and recognizes that Native Americans need to create and develop their own economies. Unless the tribes can stop the harm they are doing to the environment from leaving the reservation grounds, however, the Sierra Club will continue to address such areas of concern.

"We work with anybody who wants to help protect the environment, stop global warming, and transition our economy to a clean economy," Bessler told AP. "We don't discriminate and we'll continue to honor the invitations we get from Hopi and Navajo communities to work with them."

Most recently, Joe Shirley Jr., president of the Navajo Nation, America's largest Indian reservation, also threw in his support for the Hopi resolution. In a press release, Shirley stated that environmental groups "are among the greatest threat to tribal sovereignty, tribal self-determination and our quest for independence," and he asked other tribes to question their own relationships with environmentalists.

"Environmentalists are good at identifying problems but poor at identifying feasible solutions," Shirley said in the press release. "Most often they don't try to work with us but against us, giving aid and comfort to those opposed to the sovereign decision-making of tribes. They support tribes only when tribes are aligned with their agenda, such as our opposition to renewed uranium mining in the Grand Canyon and on Native land."

The Navajo tribe has had their own run-ins with environmentalists, as well. Their most recent conflict has been the debate over the Desert Rock Energy Project.

Located in northwestern New Mexico, the Desert Rock Energy Project is a $3 billion, 1,500 megawatt coal-fired power plant. The project has been in development for three years now, and last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally signed off on the power plant's production by granting Houston-based electric development company Sithe Global Power, LLC, who is partnering with the Navajo Nation's Dine Power Authority to build the plant, the necessary air permits. On Sept. 25, however, the Environmental Appeals Board said it will have to remand the air permit and reconsider the EPA's decision. The process could take months.

Environmentalists are thrilled, saying that Desert Rock -- the third coal-fired power plant to be built in the area -- would have a huge impact on air quality as well as human health for local citizens.

Many Navajo are not happy, though. Those in favor of the plant say that not only would it be one of the cleanest coal-burning plants in the nation, but the Desert Rock Energy Project would also generate more than $50 million in annual revenue, and overall, create 1,400 jobs. In an area where more than half the people are unemployed, numbers like that are more than welcome.

"It would be a huge benefit to the Navajo people and Navajo Nation. But our greatest opposition comes from environmentalists and the outside groups that silently support them," Shirley said. "Unfortunately, many of these people don't know about Navajos, sovereignty or self-determination. They just want any use of coal stopped."

GREEN IS GOOD

The above photo is of the Navajo Generating Station in Page, AZ Courtesy of Alex E. Proimos' photostream on Flickr.