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Native nations are leading on the path to renewable energy
By Vincent Schilling L
ike many of the people in her Navajo (Diné) commu- nity, Wahleah Johns suffered from a lack of resources as a child. “Growing up, we did not have electricity or
running water and lived in the shadow of the Black Mesa coal mine,” said Johns. “Many Native people today still live with- out electricity or water, or are dependent on fossil fuels, and dependent on others for our energy—energy that is essential to provide us light, energy to keep our food cold, energy to keep us warm, and energy to help our communities grow.” Today, Wahleah Johns, a member of the Navajo Nation, is the
director of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs. She said, “My upbringing and the plight of Native peoples across the country is what makes our mission at DOE’s Office of Indian [Energy] so very personal.” Today, the Navajo Nation has one solar project that produces electricity for more than 28,000 homes and is in the process of building two more, which will not only supply electricity but revenue to the tribe as they will export energy to outlying com- munities. These are just some of the of renewable energy proj- ects that are in progress or have been completed on tribal lands. Since 2010, more than $100 million in DOE grants have helped support more than 190 tribal energy projects, from the build- ing of a single wind turbine to construction of full wind and solar farms and hydroelectric dams. According to Johns, these projects “not only build capacity within these Native commu- nities, but also will collectively save these communities more than $275 million over the life of these clean energy systems.”
24 SPRING 2022 AMERICAN INDIAN
The Se̓ liš Ksanka Ql̓ ispe̓ Dam on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana is 200 feet high and produces 1.1 million megawatt hours of electricity annually.
CREDIT HERE
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