Native American Tribal Lands Look to Renew Energy

Canyon Uranium Mine, near Red Butte.

For hundreds of years, ever since white settlers first came to the American southwest, the Indigenous peoples of the area have been systemically disenfranchised and the land stripped of its resources to provide goods, and especially energy, for the surrounding towns, cities and counties. Tribal leaders, residents and all who work and live in the area have long felt the injustices of past energy resource development on their traditional lands. From this springs the a collaboration between the National Renewable Energy Lab and the Indian Energy Policy, as they partner with Tribal Leaders and look at ways to develop renewable energy on tribal lands.

“The challenge as we make the transition to yet another energy development is to learn from the errors of the past and not to repeat them,” Clark said. “To make the transition from where we are to where we need to be will mean including more equitable resource access and economic and social development opportunities to people who have borne the brunt of this arrangement.”

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