Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Anchor: Antonia Gonzales
The Biden administration is holding a government-to-government summit in Washington, D.C. next week with tribal leaders to focus on clean energy.
The two-day roundtable hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy is for tribal leaders to meet with DOE officials and discuss how the agency can strengthen tribal energy sovereignty.
Wahleah Johns is director of the cabinet department’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs.
She says there are opportunities for tribes through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“The diversity and the unique situation and location of tribal lands and communities when it comes to energy, the needs are different. And you have small communities, small tribes and you have large tribes. Many times, there’s heavy energy burden in these communities where a lot of tribes are experiencing unreliable power or many don’t have access to electricity and here at DOE with new investment in clean energy rollout and expansion and building a clean energy economy, we want to make sure tribes are a part of this.”
Tribal leaders and senior Department of Energy leadership are expected to explore how tribes can use clean energy to enhance energy sovereignty, address climate issues, and build stronger economies.
The summit takes place October 4-5.
The Department of Energy will live stream the event.
A totem pole from the Lummi Nation in Washington state is traveling across the country as part of a bid to call for clean energy and environmental justice.
Eric Tegethoff has more.
The pole left the Lummi Reservation in mid-September and has made stops along the way, including in Seattle, George Floyd Plaza in Minneapolis, and in Pittsburgh, which hosted a ministerial meeting on clean energy last week. Douglas James is with Lummi Nation’s House of Tears Carvers, which crafted the 14-foot totem pole, and is traveling with it across the country.
“We’re just standing up for those that don’t have a voice – like the birds, the frogs, the salmon, the orcas.”
The totem pole is scheduled to reach Washington, D.C. this week.
James says the Lummi Nation first dedicated a totem pole to the victims of September 11th, two decades ago.
Wes Gillingham with Catskill Mountainkeeper in New York is traveling with the totem pole as well.
He’s critical of some alternative fuel sources being proposed, such as what’s known as “green hydrogen,” which has a reduced carbon footprint but still produces emissions.
He says Indigenous people should be at the forefront in the transition to clean energy.
“Listen to the voices of Indigenous leaders and communities that have been impacted historically. They are working on finding some of their own solutions; organic or sustainable agriculture to help reduce the emissions from the agricultural industry and industrialization of agriculture that’s taken place over the last 50 years.”
James believes it will take a monumental effort to beat climate change and ensure clean air and water for the next generation.
In Canada, September 30 marks the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, the federal statutory holiday created through legislative amendments made by Parliament in 2021.
The day honors children who never returned home and survivors of Indian residential schools.
It’s also a time for families and communities to reflect and heal.
Public commemorations are taking place across Canada to acknowledge and raise awareness of the painful history and ongoing impacts of the federally funded, church-run residential school system.
The day is also known as Orange Shirt Day, which is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day.
It promotes the concept of “Every Child Matters” to honor and remember children who endured residential schools.
Orange Shirt Day is a time to honour Residential School Survivors, spend time with the people you love, and to listen to youth about the future they want us to build together where every child matters pic.twitter.com/p8o21HUO5P
— Wab Kinew (@WabKinew) September 30, 2022
Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our newsletter today.
