WASHINGTON – Tribes were urged to make a push toward renewable energy during the fifth annual White House Tribal Nations Conference.
Leaders from both the Ute Mountain Ute and the Southern Ute tribes of Southwest Colorado were among attendees at the conference, which included representatives of all 566 nationally recognized Native American tribes.
The conference, hosted Wednesday by the Department of the Interior, was intended to open direct dialogue between tribal leaders and President Barack Obama and his new tribal nations committee. It came after listening sessions the day before in which tribal leaders were encouraged to voice their concerns to officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, an agency of the Department of the Interior.
While the diversity of the tribes allowed for many issues to be addressed during breakout sessions, which were closed to the news media, and a panel of the Council on Native American Affairs, one topic nearly every tribe had a stake in was climate change and the move to renewable energy on Native American lands.
Climate change is beginning to impact tribes across the country, Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said.
“Droughts, floods, wildfires (are) all traits we have seen and have numerous implications in the country,” he said.
The solution, he believes, will be the move to renewable energy.
“In the past five years wind-power capacity has tripled, solar power has increased by a factor of 10,” Moniz said, touting the Obama administration’s push since taking the White House. “We are really in the place toward a transformation to no carbon energy.”
This message was echoed later in the evening during talks by Obama and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy.
Tribes, specifically in Southwest, increasingly will be affected by climate change without further action, McCarthy said.
Because of that, Obama said he has made changes to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Act that would allow tribes to directly request disaster assistance.
Previously, tribes were required to go through their state governor to request the declaration of an emergency by the president.
“When disasters like floods or fires strike, you shouldn’t have to wait for a middleman to get the help you need,” he said.
Obama said he believes the increase of renewable energy on tribal lands can serve as both a protectorate of the environment as well as an economic boost.
“We are working with tribes to get sources of renewable energy up and running,” Obama said. “Your lands and your energy can be a source of renewable energy and the good local jobs that come with it.”
Suzanne Gaber is a student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Durango Herald. Reach her at sgaber@durangoherald.com.
