'On stolen land': Tribes fight clean-energy projects backed by Biden

[mahatmakanejeeves]

‘On stolen land’: Tribes fight clean-energy projects backed by Biden

From power lines to copper mines, tribal leaders are raising concerns about projects essential to President Biden’s climate goals

By Maxine Joselow
March 4, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. EST



Naelyn Pike of Apache Stronghold runs toward the Resolution Copper mine on Chí'chil Biłdagoteel (Oak Flat in Apache), which is sacred to members of the San Carlos Apache nation, in Superior, Ariz., in February. She is taking part in a roughly 48-mile relay to Oak Flat to protest a copper mine that is planned there. (Caitlin O'Hara for The Washington Post)

TUCSON, Ariz. — Verlon Jose recalls climbing a hill here to see the majestic peaks of the Santa Rita Mountains in one direction and the cactus-studded San Pedro Valley, where his ancestors lived hundreds of years ago, in the other.

But looking out from that same vista in February, Jose saw only unwelcome development. To the south, bulldozers were carving roads and clearing land for a massive copper mine on the western slope of the Santa Ritas. To the east, construction was underway on a 550-mile power line that would cut through a 50-mile portion of the valley.

While the power line would not technically cross the tribal land of the Tohono O’odham Nation, whose government Jose leads, it would intersect areas that his people consider part of their ancestral heritage. ... “This is our land,” said Jose, whose tribe includes roughly 38,000 members across southern Arizona and northern Mexico. “It should all be protected.”

Jose is one of several tribal leaders nationwide who are growing frustrated with the Biden administration and its ambitious plans for clean-energy projects that could affect their ancestral lands. While the White House has worked to repair the federal government’s relationships with Indigenous peoples, that effort is conflicting with another Biden priority: expediting projects essential for the energy transition.

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Resolution Copper’s No. 10 shaft, left, and the repurposed Magma Mine No. 9 shaft in Superior, Ariz. The No. 9 shaft is being used as a ventilation tunnel while the company constructs the mine. (Caitlin O'Hara for The Washington Post)

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By Maxine Joselow
Maxine Joselow is a staff writer who covers climate change and the environment. Twitter https://twitter.com/maxinejoselow

[Barry Markson]

1. No problem, give the native Americans their stolen land back.

We can easily import the needed materials from South America, Africa and Asia.

Problem solved.