Tom, the tribe has spoken.
Via Daily Caller:
A state constitutional amendment essentially ending many of the fossil fuel-related jobs in Arizona would have a substantially greater impact on the Navajo community, where members suffer from an employment rate above 40 percent. The Navajo Generating Station (NGS) and the Kayenta Mine –which supplies NGS with coal — alone make up 20 percent of the Nation’s revenues, Begay said.
“When you remove those jobs that don’t come back, when you remove those incomes that are lost, the snowball effect that this will have socially is probably far more concerning than anything else,” Begay said. “Once these plants close down, there is never going to be the opportunity to bring those jobs back.”
Because of these factors, tribal leaders have gone all out in an effort to defeat the initiative. The Navajo Nation Council passed a resolution in opposition to Proposition 127 in July. The Nation released a formal statement on Oct. 1, with Navajo Nation Speaker LoRenzo Bates saying the state’s current renewable mandate to be more “realistic,” and while he does support renewable energy, he does not “support the process that this initiative is proposing.”
The Navajo are even running attack ads, with one woman featured in the commercial saying their community “could lose it all” if Prop 127 passes.
For the people who make up the Navajo Nation, their sovereignty reigns as one of the most — if not the most — important aspect of their community. Their reservation enjoys a large degree of autonomy from federal and state laws, and they elect their own members to serve on their council and in other positions of leadership.
Navajo representatives do not appreciate that Steyer and other backers of the renewable energy proposal did not consult with them over its wording — despite that it could dramatically impact their way of life.
“They failed to even consult with us in drafting up the language that was ultimately put on the ballot,” Begay claimed. “I think that’s a slap in the face of our own sovereignty as government. What does our sovereignty really mean without the ability to serve our people?”
Begay and other tribal leaders have made clear that they are not opposed to wind and solar energy altogether. The Nation has actually made strides in developing its fledgling renewables industry, with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority opening the reservation’s very first utility-scale solar facility in 2017. However, the Nation is opposed to the process laid out in Prop 127, believing it to be “irresponsible” and a grave threat to their livelihood.