Sustainable Tribal Economies: A Guide to Energy and Food Sovereignty in Native America

Chapter subject here

SUSTAINABLE TRIBAL EcoNomIES
A Guide to Restoring Energy and Food Sovereignty in Native America

A PUBLICATION OF HONOR THE EARTH

“We are the Keepers of this Earth.
Those are divinely mandated in-
structions to us. We are at an incred-
ible challenge at this point of our
journey. We have been blessed by
being Indigenous. What a blessing,
and what a responsibility.”

— Dr. Henrietta Mann
at the Native Peoples Native Homelands
Climate Change Workshop,
November 2009

Honor tHe eartH’s Mission
Our mission is to create awareness and support for Native environmental issues and to develop needed financial and politi-
cal resources for the survival of sustainable Native communities. Honor the Earth develops these resources by using music, the
arts, the media, and Indigenous wisdom to ask people to recognize our joint dependency on the Earth and be a voice for those
not heard.
acknowledgMents:
Cover Art: Jonathan Thunder
Researched and written by Honor the Earth staff and volunteers: Winona LaDuke, Faye Brown, Nellis Kennedy, Tom Reed,
Luke Warner and Andrea Keller.
Design: Kevin Brown, Smart Set, Inc.

Special thanks to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Surdna Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Sol-
idago Foundation, Turner Foundation, Carolyn Foundation and the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock
for funding Honor the Earth’s Energy Justice Initiative and this booklet.

Thanks to Reed Aubin, PennElys Goodshield, Bob Gough, Chase Iron Eyes, Kim Knutson, Christopher Reed, and Lisa Ringer
for their contributions to this booklet.

Thank you to our Advisory Board, representing the Indigenous Environmental Network and Indigenous Women’s Network,
for years of collaboration, commitment and leadership: Charon Asetoyer, Faith Gemmill, Tom Goldtooth, Heather Milton-
Lightening and Anne White Hat.

Sustainable Tribal Economies
a guide to restoring energy and Food sovereignty in native aMerica

a PuBlication oF Honor tHe eartH
2104 Stevens Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55404
(612) 879-7529
info@honorearth.org
www.honorearth.org

Sustainable Tribal Economies: A Guide to Restoring Energy and Food Sovereignty in Native America

Why This Booklet?
The process of determining our des- and less of our own food and instead
tiny is at the core of our survival as rely upon foods imported from facto-
Indigenous peoples. As tribal com- ry farms and monocropped fields far
munities grow and we deepen our away. This is not a sustainable way to
strategies and infrastructure for our live. This booklet is about the process
Nations, it is essential for us to look of recovering control of these two
at the world’s economic and environ- economies as a way to ensure the sta-
mental realities in order to make crit- bility of our tribal communities, our
ical decisions about our future. That environments and our cultures.
means we must address issues such
as climate change, peak oil and food This booklet explores food and en-
insecurity. Food and energy consume ergy issues in tribal communities,
huge portions of our tribal economies recognizes their linkages, provides
and must be considered in relation to examples of tribal innovation and
tribal sovereignty and self-determi- outlines options for tribal communi-
nation. ties to create sustainable energy and
food economies for this millennium
This new millennium is a time when and for the generations yet to come.
we are facing the joint challenges of In all cases, we are looking at the cre-
an industrial food system and a cen- ation of local economies, using the re-
tralized energy system, both based sources available to each Indigenous
on fossil fuels, and both of which are community. We are hopeful that some
damaging the health of our peoples of these strategies will not only be vi-
and the Earth at an alarming rate. In able for tribal self-determination, but
the US— the largest and most ineffi- also, when appropriate, be a possible
cient energy economy in the world— source of export revenues for tribal
tribal communities have long sup- communities.
plied the raw materials for nuclear
and coal plants, huge dam projects, Recovering and restoring local food
and oil and gas development. These and energy production requires a
resources have been exploited to conscious transformation and set of
power far-off cities and towns, while technological and economic leaps
we remain in the toxic shadow of for our communities. We must decide
their lethal pollution and without whether we want to determine our
our own sources of heat or electricity. own future or lease it out for royalties.
Our communities have also laid the In the end, developing food and en-
groundwork for agriculture on this ergy sovereignty is a means to deter- Art by Camille LaCapa; Border by Star
continent. Yet today, we produce less mine our own destiny. Wallowing Bull

Table of Contents

Sustainable Tribal Economies
a guide to restoring energy and Food sovereignty in native aMerica

Part One
tHe Basics oF a sustainaBle econoMy .................................................. 3

Part Two
cHallenges Facing indigenous coMMunities: tHe urgent
need to Build energy and Food sovereignty ..................................... 7
Challenge One: Climate Change ......................................................................................7
Challenge Two: Peak Oil ..................................................................................................13
Challenge Three: Fuel Poverty ........................................................................................17
Challenge Four: Food Insecurity ....................................................................................19
False Solutions, “Clean” Coal, Carbon Capture and Sequestration,
Nuclear Power, Unsustainable Biofuels .........................................................................23

Part Three
oPPortunities For triBal action .......................................................... 25

Part Four
solutions For Building sustainaBle triBal econoMies
Solution One: Energy Efficiency and Conservation......................................................29
Solution Two: Renewable Energy ...................................................................................31
Solar Energy ............................................................................................................34
Wind Energy ............................................................................................................39
Micro Hydropower..................................................................................................44
Sustainable Biomass and Biofuels.........................................................................46
Solution Three: Restoring Traditional Foods.................................................................51

glossary oF terMs ................................................................................... 60

sources ....................................................................................................... 63


Notes:

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The Basics of a Sustainable Economy

Part One:
tHe Basics oF a sustainaBle econoMy

Breaking tHe cycle oF have become accustomed to a cycle definition of wealth. We believe that
dePendency where outside sources of cash come restoring a local economy rooted in
into the reservation and our cash is our own knowledge as Indigenous
An economy is the creation and dis-
spent off-reservation. peoples is essential to revitalizing the
tribution of wealth in a community.
health and sustainability of our com-
Wealth could be in the form of wam-
The structure of a dependent econo- munities.
pum, corn, energy, or other items,
my puts Indigenous communities at
such as cash. The industrial economy a case For re-localizing
risk of constant destabilization and
is not the only economy. In fact, the energy and Food
often at the mercy of outside forces,
cash reliance of an industrial econ-
whether those forces are large min- Honor the Earth collaborated with
omy is a relatively new addition to
ing companies or renewable energy the White Earth Land Recovery Proj-
Indigenous economic and trade sys-
developers seeking to profit from the ect to perform a study on the White
tems. Indeed, the fur traders, agency
resources of a tribal community, or Earth Reservation analyzing the
offices, annuity payments, trading
whether they are unpredictable fed- tribal energy economy while also rec-
posts and other cash-based institu-
eral allocations. As the US economy ommending an innovative program
tions that became so significant in
becomes increasingly destabilized of energy efficiency and renewable
our post-contact history were ma-
as a result of the recession, wartime energy. A separate study was under-
jor elements in the unhealthy trans-
expenditures, peak oil, and climate taken on the food economy. These
formation of our economies from
change, our tribal economies will studies revealed that approximately
wealthy and self-reliant to poor and
face even greater destabilization and 50% of the tribal economy’s money is
dependent.
more risk. being spent outside the reservation
on food and energy. This expenditure
To put it plainly, cash is not essential
To become self-sustaining, we need represents a substantial and discon-
to an economy. Yet, we have become
to break the cycle of dependency. Our certing portion of our tribal income.
increasingly cash-dependent in In-
people suffer from a history of depen- In fact, it is the largest drain on our
digenous communities, exchanging
dency resulting from the confiscation tribal wealth.
labor, natural resources and our gifts
of our lands, the General Allotment
of art for cash in order to purchase
Act, the stock reduction programs, Dependency at this scale is unhealthy.
goods and services. Some of this
the mass slaughter of the buffalo, the Native communities, already facing
cash wealth is exchanged inside of
War on Poverty, the theft and sale of crisis situations of poverty, cannot af-
our communities, but a substantially
natural resources and other aspects ford this output of money.
greater portion is spent outside our
of colonization. This created depen-
tribal borders.
dency only hinders our sustainabil- Initial studies completed on the White
ity. Earth Reservation reveal the figure for
We not only spend most of our cash
a tribal energy economy alone con-
outside the reservation, but also se-
In a world where tribes have been sumes a phenomenally large portion
cure almost all of our tribal income
pushed to create cash-driven econo- of the entire economy: an estimated
from outside sources— such as feder-
mies, there is another more resilient one-fourth of tribal household in-
al revenues or royalties from resource
way to live and it begins with valuing come is spent on energy-related ex-
extraction— and are thus totally de-
who we are and reclaiming our own penses whether for transportation,
pendent upon outside markets. We
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HigH gdP or a HaPPy country?
Is it possible to have a happy country that is not cash rich?

The New Economics Foundation has devised a system called the Happy Planet Index to rank the life-satisfaction
of citizens in countries around the world. Instead of using economic wealth measures, such as the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) of a country, the index used measures such as life expectancy and happiness to determine life satis-
faction.”1 The findings demonstrate that, on a whole, rich countries with high rates of resource consumption are the
saddest countries in the world. In fact, the happiest countries in the world are those with high rates of renewable
energy and lower rankings of GDP!

After examining nearly 200 countries, the 2009 index declared Costa Rica as the happiest country in the world, and
two additional studies corroborated these results. Costa Rica gets over 99% of its energy from renewable sources.2
Costa Rica also has a great deal of organic agriculture, culturally based tourism, and a vital export crop of coffee. All
of this, according to the index, means that Costa Rica is the most successful country in the world at converting “the
planet’s natural resources into long and happy lives for [its] citizens.” 3

In 2006, the index listed the South Pacific island, Vanuatu, as the happiest country in the world.4 Surviving on small-
scale agriculture and tourism, Vanuatu’s GDP per head was a mere $290 in 2006. Living according to tradition, the
Vanuatu, like all other Indigenous peoples, have a unique relationship with the land. Their strong sense of culture
and community played a significant role in putting them at the top of the index.

Tribal nations can follow these examples. By keeping strong cultural traditions, restoring local food systems, in-
creasing efficiency and creating renewable energy sources, tribal nations can be some of the happiest nations in the
world without having a high GDP.

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The Basics of a Sustainable Economy

heating, or electricity.5 This figure drain income and wealth from the local econoMies
is due to the relatively remote loca- tribal economy. The crisis situation strengtHen and regenerate
tion of the White Earth Reservation facing tribal food economies is a ma- coMMunities
in northern Minnesota, and the lack jor contributor to tribal poverty.
In economic terms, there is a figure
of resources for efficiency, combined
called a “multiplier.” This figure re-
with a lower average income than the Our economic analysis on the White
flects how many times a dollar circu-
general population. But the situation Earth Reservation, completed in 2008,
lates in any given local community
is not unique to the White Earth Res- found that $7 million out of every
until it moves into a larger economy
ervation. Many tribal communities $8 million of tribal household and
far away. A 2008 study regarding the
find themselves in the same or simi- agency expenses (excluding casino
elements of the Puget Sound, Wash-
lar circumstances, making the study purchases) were spent immediate-
ington area food economy revealed
increasingly relevant for all tribal ly off-reservation. When we spend
that, “The more dollars circulating lo-
nations. Across the board, remote money at a Walmart or Food Service
cally, the greater the number of com-
reservation communities have sub- of America, those dollars go outside
munity linkages and the greater their
par weatherization in much of their of our communities, the goods are
strength. The research indicates that
housing and are hit especially hard produced far away, money is required
more and stronger linkages provide
by the high cost of energy to heat and to transport them, and profit goes to
for a healthier, more diverse and re-
cool their homes, as well as the cost of far away owners and/or stockholders.
silient local economy.”6
traveling long distances. However, a locally owned business,
selling goods harvested and/or made
Simply put, keeping our dollars lo-
The energy predicament draining locally, keeps our dollars local, sup-
cal strengthens and regenerates the
tribal economies is augmented by porting our community’s economy.
health of our economy and our com-
unstable tribal food plans. The tribal
munities. By developing community
food economy represents another We can stabilize our tribal economies
resources and goods to meet our own
source of wealth and loss of wealth through localization. By developing
community needs, we become less
in a tribal economy. Traditional food our own energy and food sources, we
vulnerable to outside markets, and
production keeps wealth in the com- can create vibrant and resilient tribal
more self-reliant and self-sufficient.
munity, while purchases from border economies that will ensure our sur-
towns in multinational food supply vival in the face of the economic and
enterprises and chain grocery stores environmental challenges ahead.

Re-localizing food and ener-
gy economies means taking
responsibility for our future
generations. This requires a
paradigm shift back to our
traditional knowledge sys-
tems. We cannot erase the
process of economic colo-
nization and the deliberate
creation of dependency. But
we can join with others and
take action to reclaim our
future.

Left: Artwork by Rabbit Strickland
| 5 |


Notes:

| 6 |

Challenges Facing Indigenous Communities

Part Two:
cHallenges Facing indigenous coMMunities:
cliMate cHange, Peak oil, Fuel Poverty and Food insecurity

Climate change, peak oil, fuel poverty and food insecurity on massive energy inputs. These realities are complex and
are four interrelated challenges that Native communities have vast impacts on Native communities. Our communi-
face in this millennium, challenges that stem from indus- ties, while at the center of the storm, also have unparalleled
trial society’s level of consumption and the corresponding potential to reduce the negative impacts of a destabilizing
exploitation of lands, natural resources and peoples. climate and energy and food insecurity. We discuss solu-
tions to these concerns later in this booklet, but as a start-
Globally, we are presented with a new set of difficulties in ing point it’s important to understand the causes of climate
the face of a warming planet, the depletion of world oil change, peak oil, fuel poverty and food insecurity and the
supplies and an industrial agriculture system that relies distinct threats they present for Native America.

Challenge One:
cliMate cHange

The Earth naturally goes through By definition, climate change is the At its essence, climate change seri-
cycles of warming and cooling over “long-term significant change in the ously and adversely transforms the
time, but a climate that’s rapidly weather patterns of an area.”8 It turns way we live, and in this interconnect-
warming and changing because of out that ‘significant change’ means ed world, impacts in one geographic
human behavior is another thing al- significant problems. Climate change region reverberate internationally. If
together and indeed a dangerous and creates a myriad of ecological cri- wheat or corn production in the Mid-
very real scenario. ses, from more extreme and volatile west is compromised due to drought
weather, such as extended droughts, or flooding, it affects prices and food
Human activity has already raised massive floods and intense storms,9 availability across the globe. None of
the average surface temperature to the destruction and loss of biodi- us are immune to climate change’s ef-
of the Earth more than one degree versity. With a warming globe, many fects. And none of us are completely
Fahrenheit. Scientists at the Intergov- of our foods and medicines (plants removed from contributing to it.
ernmental Panel on Climate Change and animals) must adapt, seek cooler
causes oF cliMate cHange
(IPCC) calculate that the Earth’s tem- climates or face extinction. The IPCC
perature will continue to rise at least has already confirmed certain ecosys- Unsustainable energy and indus-
another degree, even with drastic tem shifts,10 from earlier bird migra- trial agriculture are the primary cul-
mitigation efforts.7 While these tem- tions to habitat changes for fish and prits behind climate change. The US
perature increases appear small, the wildlife, that will disrupt our relation- Global Change Research Program
consequences of a warming globe are ship to the land and species we have (USGCRP), the leading domestic
huge. relied on for millennia. body tasked with researching climate
trends, lays out the situation clearly:
| 7 |


FeedBack looPs: desertiFication, cliMate cHange &
Biodiversity loss greenHouse gases
The Environmental Protec-
tion Agency (EPA) explains
the primary greenhouse gas-
es that enter the atmosphere
because of human activities:

Carbon Dioxide: Carbon di-
oxide enters the atmosphere
through the burning of fos-
sil fuels (oil, natural gas, and
coal), solid waste, trees and
wood, and also as a result
of other chemical reactions
(e.g., manufacture of ce-
ment). Carbon dioxide is
also removed from the atmo-
sphere when it is absorbed by
plants as part of the biologi-
cal carbon cycle.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Desertification Synthesis Report (2005), p. 17 Methane: Methane is emit-
ted during the production
and transport of coal, natural
gas, and oil. Methane emis-
sions also result from live-
stock and other agricultural
practices and by the decay of
organic waste in solid waste
landfills. Melting permafrost
as a result of climate change
releases mass amounts of
methane as well.

Nitrous Oxide: Nitrous oxide
is emitted during agricultural
and industrial activities, as
well as during combustion of
fossil fuels and solid waste.14

Left: A coal plant near the Northern
Cheyenne Reservation

| 8 |


“The global warming observed over
the past 50 years is due primarily to Fossil Fuels: dirty Power
human-induced emissions of heat-
Fossil fuels literally come
trapping gases. These emissions
from fossils— the remains of
come mainly from the burning of fos-
prehistoric plants and ani-
sil fuels (coal, oil, and gas), with im-
mals that lived millions of
portant contributions from the clear-
years ago. Burning fossil fu-
ing of forests, agricultural practices,
els, such as coal, oil and gas,
and other activities.”11
releases carbon dioxide (CO2)
into the air, and CO2 emis-
The main heat-trapping gas (also
sions are the principal cause
called a “greenhouse gas”) respon-
of climate change.
sible for climate change is carbon di-
oxide (CO2), often referred to as ‘car-
According to the Department
bon.’ In the energy sector, the worst
of Energy, fossil fuels are cur-
carbon offenders are electric power
rently used to power over
production and transportation. In
85% of the energy needs in
fact, electric power plants and trans-
the United States.13 Signifi-
portation were responsible for 73% of
cantly reducing our reliance
our total energy-related carbon emis-
on fossil fuels is essential to
sions in 2006.12 In terms of industrial
mitigating climate change.
agriculture, our food system is not
only petroleum-intensive, but also re-
lies on massive clear cutting, destroy- longer reflect heat,16 growing deserts
ing remaining forests that absorb the that have less vegetation to store
Earth’s carbon. With added green- CO2,17 and melting permafrost that
house gas emissions and shrinking emits methane18 are other examples
storehouses for carbon, heat from the of the feedback loops accelerating
sun increasingly becomes trapped in climate change.
the atmosphere, warming the globe.
In the coming decades, increased at-
The effects of climate change alter mospheric concentrations of green-
carbon absorption cycles. For ex- house gases will continue to raise
ample, the oceans, the world’s largest average global temperatures. Melting
carbon storehouse, no longer take in polar ice and glaciers will further raise
as much carbon dioxide when they sea levels, dramatically change pre-
warm,15 and as a result, more carbon cipitation patterns and increase the
remains in the atmosphere, warming volatility of our climate. Water, essen-
the Earth and the oceans even more. tial for all life, will be gravely affected.
A vicious cycle continuously repeats A 2009 report by the USGCRP19 found
itself making problems exponentially that water quality problems, water-
worse. These cycles are called feed- borne diseases and shrinking water
back loops. Melting ice caps that no supplies will all intensify. Changes in

Left: Reprinted from “Stop Global Warming,”, the Spring 2008 YES! Magazine,
www.yesmagazine.org

| 9 |


two degrees FroM disaster water and other climate impacts are
predicted to pose adaptation prob-
lems for crop and livestock produc-
tion, meaning our current food sys-
tem is vulnerable.

We need to take action. Native com-
munities are already dispropor-
tionately experiencing the adverse
impacts of a warming globe. As the
section below describes, it is clear
that climate change strikes our com-
munities first and worst.
cliMate cHange iMPacts in
indigenous coMMunities
Native peoples are already witnessing
dramatic changes in our territories.
From fishing and salmon run impacts
in the Northwest, to raging wildfires
in Colorado and California, to storm
surges and flooding along the East-
ern seaboard to severe drought in
the Southwest, present and future
From YES! Magazine by Doug Pibel, Madeline Ostrander, Jan 29, 2008

natural Hazards and Mortality

Kevin A. Borden & Susan L. Cutter.
“Spatial Patterns of Natural Hazards
mortality in the US” International
Journal of Health Geographics. 7:64
Dec. 17, 2008.
| 10 |


Waves pounding against the sandbagged seawall in Kivali- Alaskan coastal village of Shishmaref falls into the sea.
na, Alaska. Photo credit: Mary Sage/AP Photo credit: Shishmaref Erosion & Relocation Coalition

changes in the climate imperil our will continue to happen in more ru- The relocation costs for such violent
homelands, our lifeways and our very ral and remote areas, like reservation climate change damages represent
survival. communities. We are not prepared. significant costs. Relocation for the
Inupiat village of Kivalina alone has
alaska: a sign oF cHange to
Our communities are at serious risk been estimated at $400 million or
coMe
from climate change related disasters. more.24 Putting a price on a home-
One-third of reservation residents Temperatures in the Arctic are rising land, however, is impossible.
in the Great Plains live in substan- twice as fast as they are elsewhere
dard housing, as does much of Na- in the world.21 Arctic ice is melting The people of Kivalina are taking a
tive America, meaning that we have and rupturing and the polar ice cap stand.25 In 2007, Kivalina filed a fed-
little protection from the increase as a whole is shrinking at a frighten- eral suit in US District Court against
in torrential rains, tornados, wind ingly rapid rate. As a result, numer- Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC, seven
shears, extreme heat, and extreme ous Indigenous coastal villages, once other oil companies, 14 power com-
cold that climate change brings.20 We protected by the coastal sea ice, are panies and one coal company,26
are in danger of freezing or cooking to in danger of being washed away by charging these corporations with the
death in our own homes. Not to men- harsh storm surges. destruction of their village. Although
tion that much of Native America has the court dismissed the case,27 it
limited telephone and telecommuni- At least 184 of Alaska’s 213 villages provides a moving example of Indig-
cations access— meaning those most face significant erosion and flood- enous people standing up for what
exposed won’t be warned and won’t ing, according to a 2003 report by the is right and drawing attention to the
have a way to call for help in extreme US General Accountability Office.22 severity of climate injustice.
weather. Today, government agencies have
identified at least six Native villages Other Indigenous groups have been
In 2008, USA Today reported on new- that must immediately respond to se- appealing to international human
ly created maps, referred to as ‘Death vere erosion and flooding, including rights organizations to halt and rem-
Maps,’ indicating projected mortal- the villages of Shishmaref, Koyukuk, edy climate change. In 2005, the Inuit
ity from extreme weather is expect- Kivalina, Newtok, Unalakleet, and Circumpolar Conference (ICC) filed
ed to increase in the face of climate Shaktoolik.23 In most of these villages, a complaint with the Inter-American
change. The maps demonstrate that relocation is essential for survival. Commission on Human Rights (IA-
natural hazard deaths happen and CHR) against the United States.28 The

| 11 |


complaint argued that American car- health challenges directly resulting
bon emissions are destroying Inuit from climate change. indigenous PeoPles’
habitat, and that catastrophic envi- suMMit on cliMate
ronmental and social disintegration It’s undeniable that climate change is cHange
caused by climate change constitutes happening and that if we don’t take
In the spring of 2009, the In-
a human rights violation. Like the action there will be serious financial,
digenous Peoples’ Summit
courts in the Kivalina case, the IA- ecological and cultural consequenc-
on Climate Change released
CHR decided not to proceed with the es. There are several choices ahead:
a declaration demanding im-
complaint,29 but, by putting human 1) Do nothing, and let governments
mediate action by govern-
rights concerns front and center, the and businesses make market-based
ments and developed coun-
complaint changed the tenor of the decisions at a pace that does not mir-
tries to reduce CO2 emissions
debate concerning climate change in ror the urgency of the problem; 2) Be
and support adaptation strat-
a way that has had lasting effects.30 involved in mitigation, or reduction
egies. A major challenge at
of carbon, as communities and Na-
the summit was addressing
The experience of Indigenous peo- tions, and 3) Adapt for climate change
concerns by some delegates
ples in the Arctic is just the beginning and ultimately a climate-challenged
who felt that potential reve-
as Native peoples across the country world. The second and third options
nue and jobs might be lost by
increasingly find themselves forced provide real opportunities to make a
limiting fossil fuel develop-
to cope with massive ecological and better future.
ment. Nonetheless, delegates
found a consensus and are
tHe Financial costs oF cliMate cHange now calling for action in re-
sponse to the critical reality
The costs of climate change are astounding. The US General Account-
of climate change.
ing Office warns that because “the frequency and severity of damaging
weather-related events, such as flooding or drought” are expected to in-
Key Demands From the In-
crease, economic losses will be significant. Swiss Re, a major interna-
digenous Peoples’ Summit
tional reinsuring company cautions that, “climate change presents an
on Climate Change:
increasing risk to the world economy and social welfare.”32 In fact, cli-
mate change-related expenses could rise to 20% of world Gross Domes-
1. Create a binding emissions
tic Product (GDP), according to a British government-commissioned
reductions target for devel-
report.33
oped countries of at least
45% below 1990 levels by
2020 and at least 95% be-
low 1990 levels by 2050.

2. Support all national and
global actions to stabilize
CO2 concentrations below
350 parts per million (PPM)
and limit global tempera-
ture increases to below 1.5
Celsius.

3. Demand effective, well-
funded adaptation safety
nets at the national and in-
ternational levels.31
| 12 |


Challenge Two:
Peak oil

Human beings have used close to half but also in our food system, and this resources exist, but they are located
of the world’s known oil reserves in dependence has significant implica- in either hard to reach locations re-
the last fifty years. We are approach- tions in the face of our loss of access quiring high-cost, energy-intensive
ing the “peak” of worldwide oil pro- to cheap petroleum. The economic extraction technologies, or in politi-
duction and the depletion of conven- hardship wrought by peak oil will be cally unstable regions. Securing these
tional supplies. Some experts in the profound. deposits carries a large military and
field project that world demand will human rights price tag. What oil re-
outpace conventional oil production The Department of Energy’s “Hirsch mains is going to cost a lot to get– not
in the next decade.34 Report,” a widely respected analysis just financially– but also in terms of
of peak oil concerns, notes that it will the cost to the environment and hu-
The US consumes 20 million barrels take about 20 years just to prepare a man lives.
of oil a day. That’s 25% of world sup- transition to mitigate the effects of
plies. We import 2/3 of the oil we use peak oil.36 Currently, we don’t have In North America, the present lay of
at a cost of $1 billion a day, represent- much of a plan on a national level, let the land is that major oil companies
ing a huge transfer of wealth outside alone at a tribal level. We need to get are moving into remote and primar-
our borders.35 With supplies in decline started. ily Indigenous areas to extract and
and demand increasing, the price of secure new oil to offset declining pro-
oil reality: Production
oil will continue to rise. Price spikes duction and increasing demand. Off-
down, Price uP
will particularly impact the cost of shore drilling in the Arctic along with
liquid fuels, such as gasoline, diesel The four largest oil fields in the world, the tar sands development in Canada
and propane. located in Kuwait, Mexico, Saudi are two examples of Indigenous ter-
Arabia and China, are all showing ritories disproportionately impacted
The fact is that we have an economy declining production and US pro- by the search for remaining oil sup-
dependant on petroleum consump- duction doesn’t come close to meet- plies. These projects are incredibly
tion, not only in our transportation, ing domestic demand.37 Other oil destructive to land, life and people.

The graphs above depict Hubbert’s Peak, a theory of peak oil named after the late Dr. M. King Hubbert, a geophysicist who
predicted patterns of oil discovery and depletion. Hubbert predicted a global oil peak between 1995 and 2000, and all evidence
points to the fact that he was close to the mark.
| 13 |


Shell Offshore Inc. to drill in the Beau- multinational energy companies who
fort Sea.40 That ruling forced Shell’s are resorting to desperate measures
drilling plan back to the MMS, where to produce more oil. Indigenous
the agency will need to meet legal ob- communities are threatened in every
ligations to fully analyze and disclose step along this path, from the extrac-
impacts from drilling on the rapidly tion to the refineries to the pipelines
changing Arctic environment.41 slated to cross our homelands.
tar sands oil: a wasteland
Tar sands oil is one of the most en-
in tHe Making
vironmentally destructive new fuels
In Alberta, Canada, rather than drill- for our gas tanks. To get one barrel of
ing to the Earth’s core, oil companies oil, the boreal forest must be stripped
have another idea: squeeze crude oil away, and it takes four tons of earth
out of the tar sands. Tar sands devel- and two to three barrels of fresh wa-
On the frontlines in Alaska. Photo opment places Canadian First Na- ter as well as large amounts of energy
credit: REDOIL tions and US tribes face-to-face with to extract and convert the tarry earth

oFFsHore drilling in alaska
In the Arctic, both the oil depos-
its in the North Sea and Alaska are
now past peak production and lie in
depletion. Despite this, the US Geo-
logical Service estimates that almost
one quarter of the world’s remain-
ing undiscovered, recoverable oil re-
serves are in the Arctic.38 As a result,
companies, with governmental sup-
port, have been pushing hard to open
areas off Alaska’s shore to oil drilling,
but it’s going to be challenging to get
to the oil. The oil lies deep below frig-
id Arctic ice and water, under the sea
floor, on the way to the Earth’s core.
Shell Oil has set its sights on drilling
14,000 feet below the Arctic sea floor
to extract this deeply buried oil.39

The Alaska Native group REDOIL is on
the front lines, fighting new oil drilling.
REDOIL joined a lawsuit with conser-
vation organizations to stop proposed
offshore drilling in the Beaufort Sea of
Alaska. Citing the subsistence rights of
Alaska Natives as a big factor in the de-
Photo by
cision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
Indigenous
found that the US Department of Inte-
Environmental
rior’s Minerals Management Service
Network
(MMS) illegally approved plans by
| 14 |


into crude oil. Extensive devastation
is already underway in Cree, Métis
and Dené Territory where an area the
size of Michigan is slated for tar sands
development.

Then there is the transportation prob-
lem. After the energy intensive pro-
cess of extracting and upgrading tar
sands crude, the oil is mixed with toxic
thinning agents in order to be piped to
markets in the US. Plans for a vast net-
work of tar sands pipelines cut across
numerous Native communities in the
US, exposing them to the potential for
toxic spills and contamination.

The Alberta Clipper oil pipeline is
slated to cross the Leech Lake and
Fond du Lac Ojibwe Reservations
in northern Minnesota. A group of
Leech Lake tribal members have filed
a civil action in tribal court as well
as petitioned for a local referendum
vote on the pipeline. Another pipe-
line, the Keystone pipeline, is threat-
ening Dakota and Lakota territories
in Nebraska and South Dakota. The
Sisseton-Wahpeton, Rosebud, San-
tee and Yankton Sioux tribes together
filed suit to stop the Keystone pipe-
line, arguing that there has been no
consultation with tribal communities
in the drafting of the environmental
assessment for the project. Unfortu-
nately, the case was dismissed.42
Map of existing and proposed tar sands pipelines
Tar sands development has given
Canada an international reputation As Elizabeth May, Executive Direc- Going to extreme lengths to find oil,
as a “climate criminal” for undertak- tor of Sierra Club Canada, said, “Tar and ignoring climate and cultural
ing such a devastating energy strategy sands oil is to conventional oil what impacts, only highlights how the in-
in light of the dire circumstances of crack cocaine is to ordinary cocaine dustry is responding to peak oil by
global warming. The tar sands are the powder. [It creates] more harm to doing everything possible to extend
largest greenhouse gas emitter in the the global climate through increased supplies rather than find alternatives.
country.43 The project is also destroy- greenhouse gas emissions, more de- The bottom line is that our continued
ing one of the worlds’ most important struction of boreal forests, more toxic reliance on oil makes us vulnerable.
storehouses of carbon, the Canadian tailings, and more air and water pol-
boreal forest.44 lution.”45
| 15 |


Notes:

| 16 |


Challenge Three:
Fuel Poverty

Our climate change and peak oil homes. Twenty percent of the energy levels of usage.49 For tribes in north-
problems are exacerbated by our in- used in American industry and in ern regions, a good portion of this
efficient energy practices. We pro- commercial and residential buildings energy income is spent on heat, and
duce great amounts of power at huge is wasted because of poor insulation most families cannot afford the rising
environmental and cultural costs and and ventilation.48 The cost of wasted cost. About 1/3 of reservation homes
waste much of it. An average coal energy in our tribal communities, are trailers, many of which were origi-
plant wastes more energy than it gen- and in particular, our housing, con- nally built as temporary housing for
erates; only 1/3 of the fuel’s energy is tributes to our poverty. warm climates but ended up as per-
put to use, the other 2/3 is wasted.46 manent housing in bitterly cold ar-
Fuel Poverty and HoMe
Our infrastructure has become so inef- eas. These trailers, along with most
Heating
ficient that annual wasted energy from reservation homes, lack adequate
American electric power plants could “Fuel poverty” is a term that describes weatherization. In fact, roughly 90%
fuel the entire country of Japan.47 the disproportionate cost of heating of reservation homes are without ad-
a home for a low-income family. In equate weatherization.50 That means
Along with wasting vast amounts 2006, more than 13 million house- much of the money and energy spent
of energy in power production, we holds in poverty spent an average of to keep our homes habitable during
waste a great deal in transmission 25% of their annual income on their the long winter months is wasted.
and in our inefficient buildings and energy bills to maintain their modest

As illustrated, the United States wastes 57.07% of the electricity it generates. Graph by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
and the Department of Energy.
| 17 |


The sad reality is that the need for the dollars we spend on energy will off-reservation for groceries, clothing
government assistance to combat increasingly outpace all subsidies. In and other necessities.
fuel poverty far outstrips the resourc- the 2005-2006 winter season, projec-
es of the federal Low Income Heating tions suggested that energy costs for The Federal Highway Administration
and Energy Assistance Program and American Indian homes on reserva- estimates that those living in rural
other payment programs combined. tions would total $1.2 billion; an in- areas travel an average of 3,100 miles
In Minnesota, for example, 43,139 crease of 10-35% depending on the a year more than urban dwellers.54
households applied for fuel assis- type of heating system.53 We need to This, combined with the older aver-
tance and qualified, but were turned create long-term, sustainable solu- age age of vehicles and lower incomes
away due to lack of funding.51 As a tions to fuel poverty by creating a re- of residents, contributes to people
result, low-income households often newable, energy-efficient future. in rural areas spending as much as
sacrifice other necessities, like food 16% of their monthly family income
Fuel Poverty and
and medicine, just to stay warm. on transportation.55 This is much,
transPortation
much higher than the 2% of monthly
Nationally, tens of millions of dollars “Fuel poverty” also applies to the income people living in urban areas
in fuel assistance are spent to sup- poverty caused by high transporta- spend on transportation costs.56
port our low-income tribal members. tion costs in reservation and other
Some of the cost of fuel assistance has rural communities. Our communities are increasingly
been subsidized with a 2007 CITGO challenged by the rising cost of gas
petroleum project carried out in con- Most of our communities consist of and diesel, underscoring the need
junction with US partner Citizens’ a set of remotely situated villages, far to become more efficient in how we
Energy. The company provided a sub- from commercial centers. No infra- travel. Peak oil will drive up the price
sidy of $21 million in fuel assistance structure for public transportation of gas and diesel even more over the
to 220 tribes in 13 states.52 exists on the vast majority of our res- next decade. Tribes must take a hard
ervations, and there are few sidewalks look at efficiency and consumption
CITGO’s support is needed, gener- for walking or biking. We drive long in order to repair leaks in our local
ous and gracious, but as electricity distances to work, to procure servic- economies and protect our commu-
and fuel prices continue to rise and es or visit family on the reservation, nities against unpredictable outside
we continue to waste what we buy, and we drive even longer distances markets.

“Van Go,” by Dwayne Wilcox
| 18 |


Challenge Four:
Food insecurity

locally on our reservations. Today, we industrial Food, cliMate
produce less than 20%. Tribal com- cHange and Peak oil
“Food sovereignty is the right munities are now reliant upon the
Industrial agriculture has a huge car-
of Peoples to define their same food systems and stores as the
bon footprint. Overall, agriculture
dominant population. In other words,
own policies and strategies and land use changes are responsible
our food economies have become in-
for about one-third of all greenhouse
for sustainable production, creasingly dependent upon the exter-
gas emissions.61 The introduction of
nal, industrialized food economy.
distribution, and consump- mechanized farm equipment and of
petroleum-based pesticides and her-
Industrial food is expensive, inse-
tion of food, with respect for bicides following World War II made
cure and unhealthy. In June of 2008,
growing and raising food extremely
their own cultures…and is the Food and Agriculture Organiza-
fuel intensive. Today, the food indus-
tion (FAO) Food Price Index, which
considered to be a precondi- try is the single largest consumer of
measures the cost of a basket of food,
energy in the US economy.62
tion for Food Security.” stood at its highest level ever.60 The in-
crease in the cost of food has caused
Industrial food is shipped and trucked
— Declaration of Atitlan, First Indig- a huge loss in food security for peo-
tremendous distances. In the US,
enous Peoples’ Global Consultation ple on a worldwide scale. Based on
food travels an average of 1,546 miles
on the Right to Food and Food the factors contributing to the high
from the producer to the kitchen ta-
Sovereignty, Guatemala, 2002 price of food, including peak oil and
ble.63 The system is so inefficient that
climate change, this trend is likely to
it now requires ten fossil fuel calories
continue. Tribal communities cannot
to produce a single food calorie.64 For
Our tribal land base represents an afford the rising cost.
example, the US imports 270 million
enormous potential food resource.
Almost 47 million of the over 54 mil-
lion acres of tribal and individual In-
dian trust lands are rangeland and
cropland. 57 However, approximately
70% of our cropland and 20% of
rangeland is leased to non-Indians.58
This high percentage of leased land
reduces Native control of tribal food
systems at its source.

We are producing less and less of our
own food. While more than 8,000 Na-
tive farms operate on reservations,
only a handful of these farms produce
food for local tribal members.59 For ex-
ample, the Fort Berthold Reservation
and the Pima Tohono O’odham, once
agricultural foundations for their re-
gion, now produce export commodi-
ties for outside markets.

Studies of tribal food security indicate
that just one hundred years ago, we
produced nearly all of our own food
| 19 |


At one time, we produced sufficient food for our own communities and for export. Above left: Navajo vegetable company
label; Above right: Ricing on the White Earth Reservation.

pounds of grapes from Chile every produces more greenhouse gas emis- gases from transporting the meat
year, releasing 7,000 tons of pollu- sions and other pollution than driv- that is of concern. To make room for
tion along the way that contributes to ing for three hours while leaving all cattle, corporations in the Amazon
global warming. And trucking, ship- of the lights on at home.67 Industrially Basin are clear cutting forests and
ping and flying food from across the produced beef also relies on fertilizer uprooting Indigenous peoples. Seven
globe isn’t the only problem. To keep compounds like sulfur dioxide and football fields worth of trees are cut
food products from rotting in transit, phosphate, and consumes massive each day.70 Approximately 55 square
manufacturers rely on petroleum- amounts of energy for every pound of feet of forest are destroyed for every
based plastic packaging that also re- meat produced.68 hamburger that comes from Central
quires tremendous amounts of fossil America.71 Deforestation for livestock
fuels to make. 65 The carbon footprint of factory is also happening in the US. More
farmed livestock is compounded by than 260 million acres of forest have
Industrial meat operations are also the deforestation conducted to in- been clear cut for animal agriculture.72
big greenhouse gas emitters. Live- crease grazing lands. To meet the Such massive deforestation acceler-
stock alone accounts for 18% of growing demand for meat, the US ates climate change, as forests, like all
worldwide greenhouse gas emis- imports about 200 million pounds plants, sequester carbon, helping to
sions.66 In fact, eating a kilogram (2.2 of beef from Central America annu- keep it out of the atmosphere.
lbs) of beef from the grocery store ally.69 But it’s not just the greenhouse
| 20 |


industrial Food saFety Modern agricultural practices, and in Changes in weather patterns and er-
particular, large-scale monocropping ratic droughts and frosts that come
In February of 2008, 143 million
(growing one crop on the same land with climate change all affect the vi-
pounds of beef were recalled in the
year after year) are causing us to lose ability of a food economy, particu-
federal school lunch program because
our topsoil as well. 90% of the nation’s larly if it is monocropped with hy-
of contamination.73 And that is just
cropland continues to lose its soil brid crops. Hybrid crops created for
the tip of the iceberg when it comes
faster than any expected replacement an industrial food system are unable
to health issues related to industrial
rates.78 As a result, nearly one-third of to adapt quickly to volatile climate
meat production and distribution.
the world’s arable land has been lost changes. And monocropping by defi-
Most of our meat today comes from
to erosion in the last 40 years.79 In ad- nition makes food systems more vul-
factory farms, also known as Concen-
dition, since the life cycles of mono- nerable because only one variety of
trated Animal Feeding Operations
cropped annual crops are not well crop is grown year after year on the
(CAFOs), where animals are kept con-
synchronized with annual climatic same land. If that particular strain
fined in inhumane conditions while
and soil conditions, they compete gets diseased one year or is hit espe-
being pumped with antibiotics and
poorly with weeds for water and nu- cially hard by certain weather, the en-
hormones. Diseases like E. coli, mad
trients. Up to 45% of precipitation can tire food crop is jeopardized.
cow and swine flu spread quickly be-
escape to subsurface soil out of reach
cause of these factory farming prac-
of annual plants.80 This is five times In contrast, it turns out that many of
tices.
that lost by natural perennial prairie our traditional foods are drought and
PetroleuM-Based Pesticides, plants, which are deeply rooted and frost resistant. That’s because our
Fertilizers and tHe alive throughout the year. As a result, traditional seeds and foods were pro-
Pollution and erosion oF annual crops lose 35% more nitrogen duced in a pre-fossil fuels world. Our
our land than indigenous plants.81 The nutri- traditional foods do not need petro-
ents that leave the farm’s soil even- chemical fertilizers or giant irrigation
The industrialized food system relies
tually reach the ocean via a series of systems and don’t need to be trans-
on petroleum-based pesticides and
groundwater aquifers, streams, and ported across the country. Restoring
fertilizers, which have wreaked havoc
rivers. In the ocean, the concentrated traditional foods is a means to restore
on our soil, water, and air. Since 1950,
nutrients have created an increasing our food security.
US pesticide use has increased from
number of dead zones, areas where
15 million pounds to more than 125 Food colonization: tHe
fertilizer and other runoff has created
million pounds annually, yet over creation oF Food insecurity
hypoxia, the choking out of oxygen
the same time period, the amount of and ill-HealtH
from the ocean water. There are now
crops lost to insects has doubled.74 It
150 of these dead zones in the world.82 Our ancestors would not recognize
is estimated that less than 0.1% of ap-
One of the largest dead zones can be most of the foods we consume today.
plied pesticides reach their intended
found where the Mississippi River That’s because the majority of the
targets, causing damage both on and
drains into the Gulf of Mexico. That food we now eat is not indigenous to
off site.75 This compounds the agri-
dead zone is larger than the state of North America. Beef, dairy products
cultural dilemma, and large amounts
New Jersey.83 like milk and cheese, wheat and flour,
of pesticides are repeatedly added to
white sugar, and lard were all intro-
battle weeds and insects. These fossil access to Food and Food
duced by Europeans post-contact.
fuel-based chemicals are not easily security
These western foods have properties
washed away. Agriculture is the larg-
Access to food is a concern. Native foreign to our bodies, such as high
est source of water pollution in the
peoples often live in food deserts, levels of saturated fats and glucose.
world.76 A 1999 report by the National
meaning we have very few places
Water Quality Assessment Program
we can easily get to that sell healthy The lack of access to our traditional
reported at least one pesticide in vir-
foods. Climate change threatens to foods has had a devastating impact
tually every water and fish sample
increase our lack of access to food. on the health of our communities. We
collected from streams.77
| 21 |


are paying astronomical bills through Americans are improved.84 Our com- foods, agricultural techniques, seed
our Indian Health Service and con- modity foods never improved and to- preservation, and blessings that cor-
tract health to combat the high rates day, they still constitute a significant responded to planting, growing, and
of obesity, diabetes and heart disease part of the modern Native diet– one harvesting,” was deliberately sup-
we face as a result of the industrial study found that Navajo women get pressed.89 With parents forced away
food complex. The hefty costs of ad- 43% of the calories they eat each day from growing traditional foods and
dressing these diet-related illnesses from commodity foods.85 children removed from their commu-
will not diminish unless we take action nities and life ways, Native peoples
by restoring our traditional foods. Prior to the introduction of commod- were left with a future of food depen-
ity foods, diabetes was almost non- dence and ill health.
Simply put, a western diet has made existent in Native communities. To-
us sick. The Food Distribution Pro- day, some tribes have diabetes rates
gram on Indian Reservations, intro- of over 50%.86 Native peoples are 25% There is a better way and it
duced in the 1930s to provide surplus more likely to develop diabetes than begins with restoring our
commodities and agricultural prod- non-Natives and a full 30% of the Na-
traditional foods. The recov-
ucts to tribes, has left our peoples tive population suffers from the dis-
more disease ridden than most other ease.87 ery of the people is tied to the
racial groups in the United States. recovery of food, since food
Twenty years ago, in 1989, a study The process of colonization not only itself is medicine, not only
conducted by the Government Ac- deteriorated our bodies, but also our
for the body, but for the soul,
countability Office concluded that the knowledge of food. Children that were
continuing increase in obesity, diabe- forced into boarding schools were fed and for the spiritual connec-
tes, heart disease and hypertension greasy, salty, sugary foods,88 none of tion to history, ancestors and
is “likely to continue” unless federal which had been in the Native diet the land.
food packages distributed to Native before. Knowledge “about medicinal

| 22 |


False Solutions:
“clean” coal, carBon caPture and sequestration,
nuclear Power & unsustainaBle BioFuels

Climate change, peak oil, fuel poverty and food insecurity endanger and exploit the Earth and her peoples. This choice
place us at a crossroads. Industrial society can choose to has very significant implications for our continued survival.
address the fact that the root cause of our planetary crisis is There are several prominent false solutions that mirror the
found in a system of centralized, polluting power based on existing paradigm of energy conquest, and simply extend
extraction, combustion and inefficiency, or we can main- our reliance on a fossil fuel and nuclear economy.
tain this model and continue to rely on technologies that

CCS has never been tested on the
“Clean” Coal: large scale required to make a dent
unsustainable biofuels:
a Dangerous oxymoron in global warming emissions. There irresponsible, Carbon-
is no way to know if it will work over
hundreds or thousands of years on
intensive agriCulture
Some coal proponents suggest that a global scale. In addition, CCS uses Unsustainable efforts to replace gaso-
burning coal can have a place in a a great deal of energy, meaning that line with other fuel sources can be
climate challenged world. They sug- power production would need to be found in the big bio-fuels market. In
gest that using new technologies to increased just to manage the pro- the US, ethanol dominates the so-
remove carbon and other greenhouse cess of reducing emissions, making it called ‘alternative’ fuel market. Etha-
gases from coal emissions makes coal much more expensive than renewable nol is primarily made from corn. It
a ‘clean’ energy source. This logic is options that are already proven and can take more energy to grow, process
fundamentally flawed. Coal is never have very minimal carbon impacts. and transport the ethanol than is con-
clean. Coal is mined by ripping huge CCS is unproven and simply perpetu- tained in the fuel. And the practices by
holes in the Earth, leaving behind tox- ates the dirty business of mining coal which the corn is grown often include
ic messes and destroying landscapes, and coal combustion. the irresponsible overuse of toxic agro-
ecosystems and groundwater. Even chemicals and the use of genetically
when toxins are removed before they nuClear power: expensive, modified (GM) seed. Monocropped
are burned and released into the air, GM corn is petroleum-intensive to
they don’t disappear and must be put
Carbon intensive, unsafe grow and adds to erosion and agricul-
somewhere. Every stage of coal pow- tural runoff on the prairie. Corn-based
er production brings environmental Nuclear power has left a deadly leg- ethanol also drives up the price of food
damage. acy in Native America. From ura- as land and resources shift away from
nium mining’s radioactive tailings to food production to fuel production.
Carbon Capture anD nuclear waste storage, at every stage
sequestration: theoretiCal of the nuclear cycle Native commu-
nities have been disproportionately
Outside the US, agribusiness compa-
nies are devouring tropical regions
anD misguiDeD impacted. In addition, nuclear power by creating fuel crop plantations in
is anything but carbon neutral. Argu- South America, Southeast Asia, the
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ments that nuclear power provides Pacific and Africa. Palm oil expan-
(CCS) is a process that removes car- a solution to global warming ignore sion for biofuels is a primary cause
bon from coal emissions and then the carbon intensity of the uranium of deforestation in Indonesia90 where
pipes it to a storage site, either deep mining and upgrading process and forests are disappearing at a rate of
underground, in vegetation or in the transportation of fuel and waste, up to 1.2 million hectares a year, trig-
the oceans. Coal companies hope to which are significant. Nuclear power gering vast forest fires that spew mas-
store carbon in the biosphere to keep is fundamentally dangerous; it relies sive amounts of CO2 into the air.91 The
it out of the atmosphere, but continu- on fuel that is highly radioactive and impacts of large-scale biofuel pro-
ing to burn coal means continuing to lethal for tens of thousands of years duction often threaten Indigenous
produce pollution that will go some- after use. cultures and lands, and the transpor-
where that’s likely to cause problems. tation of such fuel thousands of miles
| 23 | simply adds to climate change.


Notes:

| 24 |

Opportunities for Tribal Action

Part Three:
oPPortunities For triBal action

Tribal communities are uniquely po- capture wind speeds that are much The state of Minnesota has adopted a
sitioned to lead the way in develop- greater.94 strong goal of reducing carbon diox-
ing a clean food and energy economy, ide emissions from fossil fuel based
one that doesn’t depend on constant Along with tremendous renewable power production 25% by 2025, and
resource extraction, the burning of potential, we also have an infrastruc- 80% by 2050. Meeting the state’s port-
dirty fossil fuels, and the invasion of ture of tribal colleges to train a green folio requires aggressive action into a
other peoples’ territories to meet our workforce. Our lands, renewable renew, renewable and efficient energy
food and energy needs. Harnessing sources and colleges provide a strong arena. We are keenly interested in
our renewable potential, utilizing In- foundation for building resilient local having our communities at the center
digenous knowledge to build resilient economies. of this transition across the country.
local food economies and increasing
renewaBle energy PortFolio renewaBle energy growtH
efficiency will create meaningful jobs
standards
and a community infrastructure that Wind energy is the fastest growing en-
will benefit our tribal members and The economy of the future is a green ergy source in the world.97 In 2008, US
the coming generations. This section economy. The rising price of fossil fu- wind power production shattered all
of the booklet showcases opportuni- els is creating a mandate for efficien- previous records with the installation
ties to affect these important changes. cy and the challenge of addressing of 8,358 MW of new wind generating
climate change will require a reduc- capacity,98 the equivalent of produc-
triBal renewaBle energy
tion in carbon emissions from power ing power for two million households.
Potential
generation, transportation and agri- This represented 42% of the newly in-
Tribes have some of the most abun- cultural sources. stalled power-generation capacity in
dant renewable energy potential in the US for the year and an infusion of
the world. Tribal lands are incredibly With lack of action by the federal gov- some $17 billion into the economy.99
rich in solar resources, holding an es- ernment on climate change, many Growth in all sectors of the wind in-
timated 17,600 Billion kWh/year of cities, states and a number of tribal dustry, from manufacturing to instal-
solar electricity potential. That’s al- communities have adopted poli- lation, is projected to continue.100
most 4.5 times total US annual elec- cies to limit and reduce their carbon
trical generation.92 emissions. At least 31 states have The solar power industry boomed
mandated that a certain percentage globally between 2004 and 2008, with
Tribal lands in the lower 48 states of utilities’ power generation come a 51% compound annual growth
alone hold more than 535 Billion kWh/ from renewable sources by a specific rate.101 In 2008, the industry grew by
year of wind power generation poten- date.95 Those mandates, called renew- 17% in the US alone.102 While the eco-
tial, equal to about 14% of US annual able portfolio standards (RPS), have nomic recession and shrinking capi-
generation in 2004.93 This potential, had far-reaching impacts. Research tal and credit has slowed solar growth
calculated at a turbine hub height of at Berkeley Lab, for example, suggests recently, technological advances con-
50 meters above the ground, may be that over 50% of the total wind addi- tinue to offer breakthrough demon-
more than doubled when measured tions that took place between 2001 strations that solar is a cost-compet-
for modern wind turbines, which are and 2006 in the US were motivated at itive and reliable source of power.103
mounted at 85 to 100 meters above least in part by state RPS policies.96 Market analysts are forecasting ro-
the ground, as higher turbine heights bust growth in the solar industry over
the coming years.104
| 25 |

Sustainable Tribal Economies: A Guide to Energy and Food Sovereignty in Native America

Sustainable Tribal Economies: A Guide to Energy and Food Sovereignty in Native America

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