by Kathy Helms Diné
Bureau
Gallup
Independent
23 September 2008
WINDOW
ROCK — Recently when Navajo Nation Vice President Ben Shelly
visited Niagara Falls and listened to the roaring water, it
reminded him that water is power, and power is forever.
“As
long as the sun shines there is power, clean power. The wind’s
the same way. As long as the wind blows, it provides power,”
Shelly told a crowd gathered Friday at Navajo Nation Museum for
“Bridging the Gap; Solar Power for All,” moderated by Anna
Rondon.
“We’re
in dire need for energy and dire need for new technology,”
Shelly said. One possibility is developing a wind farm at Big
Boquillas Ranch, owned by the tribe. “We have enough developers
coming to our doors right now that we can now negotiate with them.”
So many developers, in fact, that there is talk of “weeding out
some of these alternative energy companies and putting a
moratorium on it and selecting two or three for solar and wind
power,” he said.
In
addition, Shelly said his plan is to have Community Health
Representatives gather the names of their elderly clients who don’t
have electricity and see if the Nation can get funding to supply
them portable power. “If that’s the case, the portable power
has to be manufactured somewhere. These are things that can
provide economics and also jobs,” he said.
Sandra
Begay-Campbell of Sandia Lab said the Ramona Band of Cahuilla
Mission Indians, a small landlocked tribe in southern California,
is using a hybrid wind/solar energy system to live totally off the
grid.
Cal
Curley, field representative for U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, delivered a
message from the congressman, who was unable to attend. “America’s
energy policy undermines our economy, our security, and our world’s
fragile ecosystem.”
Humans
have managed to overwhelm the earth’s carbon cycle, radically
altering the carbon balance that has sustained life on earth for
millennia, he said.
“The
result is we are literally frying our earth. Scientists say that
global warming will have the effect of virtually moving New Mexico
300 miles to the south and depositing us in the Sonoran Desert. If
that happens, our way of life won’t just change, it will end.
“Some
people claim that we are not yet running out of easily available
oil or that the climate is not changing that quickly,” according
to Udall. “I look at it like this. We are driving toward a
cliff. I don’t want to spend a lot time arguing about how far
off that cliff is. I want to stop hitting the gas pedal.
“The
good news is that we have the power to solve both of these
problems. We can make our economy produce high-paying jobs and we
can do it by putting our people to work building a more
sustainable energy economy.” he said.
Dr. James
Davis, chief of staff for Navajo Nation Council Lawrence T.
Morgan, said Morgan is working on a plan to do just that. Morgan
has connected with the green jobs group in Flagstaff. “We have a
new project that we’re working on, which tries to bring outside
groups to the Council and allow it to explore possibilities into
the future.
“One
project that we’re doing currently is regarding that, exploring
the whole notion of energy and green jobs. This is wonderful
because Navajos, traditionally, have been aware of the
environment; but finally we’re marrying concepts with action.”
Morgan will be presenting legislation possibly during winter
session.
Eni
Begaye of Green Economy Coalition said they are talking about
diversifying and creating green jobs that are low- or
non-polluting. “Essentially what we want to do is create a
Navajo Green Economy Coalition that would allocate funding to
organizations or businesses through an RFP granting process for
entrepreneurial efforts, to do start-ups and get these businesses
off the ground and rolling.”
The
coalition made up of a multi-stakeholder group would oversee
allocation of the funds and would work with entities within the
Navajo Nation which are trying to develop wind and solar projects.
It also would establish within each of the five Navajo agencies,
offices that could work with existing community development
offices to help communities come up with those plans.
“To get
the funding is only the beginning. The rest of the plan is helping
the communities come up with long-term sustainable employment
sources,” Begaye said. Funding could go to small-scale wind
projects, textile mills that handle wool produced locally, a
weaver’s co-op, or a farmers market, for example.
Begaye
said they will be asking the Navajo Nation to put $10 million
toward green job investments into the fund.
Gordon
Isaac, also of the Coalition, said about eight chapters already
have approved supporting resolutions.
Fred
White, deputy director for the Division of Natural Resources, said
there is approximately 5,000 megawatts of wind energy power
available within the Navajo Nation. “If developed, the Navajo
Nation could be a major player in energy development in the
Southwest and western United States.” The military is the
largest user of electricity in the United States, according to
Begay-Campbell.
At Navajo
Technical College, professor Raymond Griego and his students spent
four years building their own 500-watt-per-hour wind turbine from
scratch and braving the elements to erect it.
The wind
turbine’s blades are made from 2 by 6s and took an entire
semester to carve. Griego said the turbine works on an alternator
theory, sort of like a car. “The whole idea for this was to
attract people from our community to learn how to build one of
these,” he said.
They are
now working on a 2.5 kilowatt wind turbine with the help of Terry
Battiest of Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, who also presented
information on NTUA’s electricity alternative for Navajo homes,
which includes 640-watt solar and 880-watt wind hybrid systems for
about $95 a month.
“Hybrid,”
in this case, means combined wind and solar sources.
David
Brunt said Gallup Solar is hoping to collaborate with communities,
elected officials, utilities and industry to bring solar power to
all people in the area. They are looking at two potential sites:
Prewitt and Gamerco. “Someday in the near future our whole
energy base will change,” Brunt said.
Gallup
Solar received capital outlay of $45,000 from the New Mexico
Legislature and is putting out an RFP on a partnership. “We’ve
talked with PNM, trying to get them to locate a plant in Gallup,”
he said. He also spoke Friday with Steven Begay of Dine Power
Authority in hopes of partnering with DPA.
“Gallup
Solar is not just a utility-scale solar plant. It’s a paradigm
shift in people’s thinking,” Brunt said.
Michael
Sawyer, president of Global Energy Systems Inc., hopes to bring
commercial-scale solar projects to Native American tribes and
communities such as Gallup. “Pending governmental subsidies
through tax credits we will be beginning the largest installation
for Native American tribes in the United States. ... Our smallest
system is 25 kilowatts and will power five to eight homes,” he
said.
David
Melton of Sacred Power Corp. also hopes to bridge the gap with “Solar
Power for All.” Sacred Power built a solar carport at
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque and is
now thinking about solar plug-in chargers for electric vehicles.
Copyright © 2008 Gallup
Independent
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