by Robert Tohe and Tony Skrelunas
Arizona Republic Opinion Article
17 October 2009
My Turn
We agree with Hopi
and Navajo concerns over economic development and job creation and
their right to speak out. We also stand united in encouraging
tribal leaders to embrace prosperity and health in the 21st
century with clean, renewable energy. Considering that our
fossil-fuel-based economy will eventually disappear, we believe it
is time to look ahead.
For too many
years, Southwestern tribes have borne the loss of groundwater and
the health impacts and destruction of our homelands from coal,
while outside interests profited greatly. At the invitation of
tribal communities, conservation groups have joined to help create
a better path.
Burning coal is a
key contributor to climate change, but it also generates many
other toxins. The Mohave Generating Station was in violation of
federal clean-air standards, thereby impacting our health and the
entire Southwest. Although they had reached an agreement on
pollution controls, the owners chose to close the plant in 2005
because of a failure to reach an agreement with Navajo and Hopi
governments on coal royalties and the protection of tribal water
supplies.
Two other coal
plants built long ago on Navajo land are also in violation. Their
toxins drift beyond reservation and state borders. Owners of these
plants, who do not include tribes, need to reduce their pollution
or, better yet, invest in local clean, renewable-energy projects
to start transitioning to a more sustainable and healthy economy.
Meanwhile, most
coal plants proposed across the country are becoming too risky and
costly to build. The planned Desert Rock plant on Navajo land
still has no customers, and the permit has been sent back for more
environmental review at the request of the Environmental
Protection Agency, tribal members and nearby residents.
When Hopi and
Navajo people were forced to leave Black Mesa by mining interests,
so went their "prosperity." While the mesa's coal provides cheap
electricity for Western states, 40 years later, thousands of
tribal homes near the mines, power plants and transmission lines
are still without electricity and running water. Unemployment
chronically hovers above 40 percent. This exploitation by outside
interests has done little to alleviate chronic poverty, but there
is hope for the future.
Partnering with
the Grand Canyon Trust, the Navajo community of Shonto, located
near Black Mesa, is developing solar energy to supply the area
with jobs and affordable electricity. They seek to end their coal
dependence while carving their own future through community-based
programs.
A report soon to
be released by Natural Capitalism Solutions shows how
renewable-energy development deployed with aggressive
energy-efficiency measures provides far more sustainable jobs,
along with overall economic benefits, than traditional sources
such as coal.
"We were quite
amazed," said report author Paul Sheldon, a senior economist of
NCS. "In some cases, the models show 10 times the number of jobs
created from certain solar technologies versus coal-based
generation."
In addition, the
Southwest Energy Efficiency Project estimates that every $1
million spent on energy efficiency in Colorado provides a net gain
of 17 jobs and $670,000 in wages and compensation.
Before the Mohave
plant closed, our groups began supporting Hopi and Navajo leaders
in campaigning for a clean-energy future. That story will be told
next month in the PBS documentary "Power Paths": http://
powerpaths.semkhor .com.
In the film,
supporter Winona LaDuke says: "We need to create a way of life
where a community is not forced to cannibalize their mother in
order to live. . . . We have no absence of resources or technology
to do the right thing. What we have is the absence of political
will."
Former Hopi
Chairman Vernon Masayesva says, "We have the technology, the sun,
the land and the power corridor. It should be a piece of cake."
We agree.
Together, we can reduce greenhouse gases, toxic pollution and stop
the exploitation of the tribes while we rekindle our economy and
create more jobs. This is our pledge for a more sustainable future
for all.
Robert Tohe is
environmental-justice organizer for the Sierra Club Flagstaff.
Tony Skrelunas is Native American program director for the Grand
Canyon Trust. Both are Navajos.
|