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by
Brenda Norrell, Southwest Staff Reporter
Indian
Country Today
26 April 2004
ALBUQUERQUE,
N.M.—When New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici urged passage
of the federal energy bill at the Western Governor’s
Association banquet, Navajos seated in the center of the
room, whose families had lived and died with the effects
of uranium mining and coal development, fell silent.
There was no applause here, no standing ovation.
When
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, however, went to the
podium at the North American Energy Summit at the Hyatt
Hotel, Navajos cheered for the governor who met with
Navajo grassroots organizations immediately after taking
office.
Reflecting
on the theme of Renewing the West with renewable energy,
Napolitano said, "I think Arizona has the potential
of being the Persian Gulf of solar."
Napolitano
urged less reliance on gasoline-fired automobiles and
said America doesn’t need tax breaks for Hummers.
"I think we are headed in the wrong
direction," she said.
The
North American Energy Summit was the brainchild of New
Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, leading governors in the
West to press for clean energy. "New Mexico was put
on the map as a center for renewable energy," he
said.
During
the banquet on April 15, in the room packed with western
governors, alternative energy suppliers of wind and
solar systems and corporate and federal producers of
energy, there were few Indian leaders or tribal policy
makers.
Norman
Patrick Brown of Shiprock, N.M., spokesman for the
Navajo grassroots coalition Dine’ Bidziil, said,
"I was disappointed to see a very small handful of
our Navajo leaders participating in the policies for
regional energy in the West. The tribal leaders were
nowhere to be seen," Brown said. "The
grassroots people came here as a voice for the medicine
people and practitioners, as a voice for the land."
Brown
said governors and corporate leaders in the breakout
sessions listened. "They listened and treated us
with respect, they honored our recommendations. They
were more cordial than some Indian tribal councils in
allowing our voice to be heard and respected."
With
multi-billion dollar incentives for renewable and
sustainable energy, Brown said it is important for the
Navajo people to know how nuclear and other energy
development affects them.
Calling
the nuclear fuel cycle unjust to Native people, Brown
said nuclear energy has a horrific legacy on indigenous
people.
Surrounded
by the positive hope of solar and wind industries, new
technologies of all types, Navajo enthusiasm dropped
when Sen. Domenici took the podium at the banquet.
Domenici, R-N.M., is chairman of the Senate Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources.
Although
Domenici pointed out that the federal energy bill has
incentives for wind and solar development, he added,
"It’s not going to solve America’s energy
problems.
"We
can’t do anything about our dependence on crude oil.
We have to energize the world to do more and hope they’ll
be our friends."
Domenici
said China is "grabbing up" energy resources.
Domenici
said he didn’t want to be a "Prophet of
Doom," then made a comparison between the events of
Sept. 11, 2001 and corporate energy development, that
was difficult for many in the room to follow.
Domenici
questioned, "What if there was no 9/11?" He
said if there had been no 9/11, Americans would never
have agreed to spend $26 billion on Homeland Security.
Americans would not have agreed to forsake their rights
to privacy and allow passage of the Patriot Act.
Navajos
in the room fell silent.
Earlier
in the evening, Wynoma Foster, Navajo member of Eastern
Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining, said she is among
Navajos fighting new proposed in-situ uranium mining on
the Navajo Nation at Crownpoint and Church Rock, already
devastated by the nation’s worst radioactive spill.
Foster
came to help organize a new Native Caucus on energy
policy and express concerns for how energy development
affects Native culture.
"Natural
resources are important to our identity," Foster
said. "This is one of our first steps to make our
presence known. There are a lot of possibilities for
alternative energy."
Gov.
Richardson and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
issued a joint written statement promoting alternative
energy development and energy efficiency to stabilize
energy prices, create jobs, promote public health and
protect the environment.
Encouraging
solar, wind, zero-emission coal, biomass and energy
conservation, the bipartisan duo said, "Our
objectives should be to develop at least 30,000 MW of
clean energy in the West by 2015, and to increase the
efficiency of energy use by 20 percent in 2020."
Navajos
pointed out that the United States energy policy and the
nation’s consumption of material goods is a world
problem.
In
the United States alone, at least 30,000 people die each
year from the pollution of coal-fired power plants.
Indigenous
peoples have been the hardest hit. On Indian lands in
the West, the air is thick with dust and smoke from the
concentration of power plants.
There
are 18 coal-fired power plants on the Colorado Plateau
of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah alone.
Kelvin
Long, Navajo member of the Black Mesa Water Coalition,
organized a press conference during the summit and the
Southwest release of a Native energy publication,
"Indigenous Peoples, Power & Politics: A
Renewable Future for the Seventh Generation."
Winona LaDuke edited the book, which highlights the
history of energy development in North America.
Long
said it encourages Indian tribes to pursue clean
renewable energy projects where abundant wind and solar
resources can meet the growing demand for energy.
Brown
reminded panelists in breakout sessions that they have a
role in remembering the uranium legacy of Indian people.
"They
heard us and will put that in the recommendations,"
Brown said. At least one industry leader said he would
honor Indian nations who did not want energy development
on their lands.
Brown
said there were no Navajo Nation leaders in the breakout
sessions, which made recommendations for energy policy.
"That is a great concern of mine. Since the Navajo
people hold a vast majority of the West’s resources,
we should have a crucial role in how we contribute to
the nation.
"What
I saw was the Navajo Nation’s lack of vision for
renewable and sustainable energy."
Brown
said Navajos came to reflect the concerns of the
Caretakers of the Earth, the medicine people and
traditional practitioners. "Their voice should be
heard and respected."
Brown
pointed out that there were a few representatives from
the Council of Energy Resource Tribes, but only a couple
of tribal leaders from the United States and Canada.
"The
most creative minds in the world are here. Two people
asked me where our leaders were. CERT is here, but I don’t
know if you could call CERT a viable voice for the
Caretakers of the Earth."
John
Fogarty, medical doctor and family practitioner in
Crownpoint, joined the Navajo delegation, pressing for
alternative energy.
Pointing
out the rise in respiratory diseases, Fogarty released a
statement with Lucy Boulanger, physician in Crownpoint
on the Navajo Nation, and Norty Kalishman, former chief
medical officer for the New Mexico Department of Health.
"Renewable
energy creates more jobs, improves our economy, protects
our air and water and keeps our kids healthy. It just
makes good sense," said the trio of health
professionals.
The
Western Governors’ Association is an independent,
non-profit organization representing the governors of 18
states and three U.S. flag islands in the Pacific. The
governors address issues of natural resources, human
services, international relations and public
management.
This article
can be found at http://IndianCountry.com/?1083002101
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