We all know well the stories of how big oil and other industries disregard and harm native peoples outside of the U.S., but where do you stand when the Federal government tries to fast-track sprawling solar energy projects in the deserts of America’s wild west?
On one hand, we need solar, wind and other renewable energy now rather than later. I applaud efforts by the Obama administration to get projects moving toward a clean energy future, and the goal of generating 80 percent of our electricity from clean energy sources by 2035 is appropriately ambitious in my book.
On the other hand, the concerns some Native Americans have about projects damaging sacred or culturally significant sites are equally important and need to be respected at all costs — even if those costs are the slowing of renewable energy projects.
“There is this sense that there is this rush to renewable energy that’s politically motivated and when tribes are consulted their concerns aren’t being taken seriously. There’s no guarantee that once the project starts that they won’t harm something.” — Michelle Raheja, interim director of the California Center for Native Nations
In some ways, it’s all the latest chapter in a long story of issues between the Bureau of Land Management and Native Americans that have been fought around oil, coal and other resources for decades. The BLM claims that it does indeed work hard to keep development away from sacred sites.
“The BLM takes very seriously its responsibilities to ensure that these projects are sited and developed in the right way and in the right places, and that we honor our responsibilities to Indian nations and the law.” — Kendra Barkoff, a Department of the Interior spokeswoman
One thing I found that both sides say is that there are sacred sites that are not officially recognized by the government that tribes still consider sacred. The hard part lies in respecting what exists in oral tradition but not in paperwork. For example, there are many geoglyphs in Southern California that are the size of football fields, with picture-messages carved into gravel long ago. Tribes still use the sites for ceremonial dances.
As Boma Johnson, a former archaeologist who worked for the BLM in Yuma for 25 years, says, “There’s plenty of desert out there to build solar panels…”
The solution, of course, would be to find land that has no specific objections associated with it. If only it were as simple as that.
Where do you stand on this issue? When it comes down to it, is it more important to protect every native land concern or to get large-scale solar programs moving that could potentially harm sacred sites?
Image from Chazz Layne via Flickr under CC
Scott James is a new media storyteller living and working in San Francisco. He writes, edits and manages projects in the green and social media spaces. In his free time you'll find him hunting down good coffee, camping along the coast, and spending time with his wife and their dog. You can read more of what he's thinking about on his blog.
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