|
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS NO LONGER WELCOME ON NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATIONS
Commentary by Harold Hough Dec2009/Jan 2010
It seems that some Native American tribes have gotten tired of environmentalists telling them how to live. As a result, a couple of tribes in Arizona have told groups like the Sierra Club that they are no longer welcome on their reservations.
Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. and Hopi lawmakers in Arizona have declared environmental groups unwelcome on tribal lands. The reason is that environmentalists are hindering the tribe’s struggling economies by opposing coal mining – a major source of revenue for both the tribes and individual Native Americans who work at the mines. They have also asked other tribes to reevaluate their relationships with environmental groups.
"Environmentalists are good at identifying problems but poor at identifying feasible solutions," Navajo President Joe Shirley said in a news 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." Although the Hopi resolution doesn’t mean environmentalists will be arrested if found on the reservation, it makes it clear that the tribal council is upset at the environmentalists’ interference in tribal matters.
The point of contention is coal and the pollution that the environmentalists allege it produces. Coal is a critical source of revenue for both the Navajo and Hopi tribes. On the Hopi reservation, revenues from coal mined by Peabody Energy in northern Arizona's Black Mesa area make up 70 percent of the tribe's $15 million budget. On the Navajo Nation, those revenues make up nearly 10 percent of the tribe's budget. In addition, Peabody’s Black Mesa operation has donated millions of dollars to promote Native American traditions. That includes funding the largest archeological project in North America, which documented Native American history on the Black Mesa.
The coal is burned at the Navajo Generating Station near Page, AZ, where environmentalists have been pushing for upgrades to reduce emissions. In 2006, environmentalists successfully forced the shutdown of the Mohave Generating Station on the Arizona-Nevada border -- the only other customer for the tribes' coal. The result was a major blow to the tribes’ budgets.
In order to make up for the loss of the Mohave Generating Station’s coal demand, the tribes’ are looking forward to the construction of a new $3 billion, 1,500-megawatt coal-fired power plant generating plant in the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. Navajo officials say it will be one of the cleanest coal-burning plants in the nation. However, environmentalists are also opposing this, saying it would further harm air quality in the Four Corners region.
Traditionally the Native American tribes and environmentalists have worked together. The Navajos recently created a green jobs commission and in 2005 banned uranium mining on the reservation. In addition, Hopi and Navajo culture and tradition teaches Native Americans to be stewards of the land. Some view coal as a vital organ of Mother Earth that should be extracted only after thoughtfully weighing the benefits.
Ironically, much of the problem comes from the paternalistic attitude environmental groups have towards Native Americans. They fail to understand that these tribal areas are recognized as sovereign nations by the US and state governments. Therefore, an environmental group coming in and telling the Navajo or Hopi tribes what to do is as likely to create bad feelings as the United States going in and telling a European nation what their domestic policy should be.
Native American tribes are also advocates of self determination and feel that their coal reserves are there to help the people. They resent outsiders coming in and telling them what they can and can’t do with their land. Navajo President Shirley noted, "They just want any use of coal stopped. However, coal is the Navajo Nation's most plentiful resource, and our prosperity depends on it."
|
