Damu Smith

It has been two years since we lost this great environmental justice activist. Know that you are missed Damu. We need you now more than ever. (1952-2006)

AAEA Supported Woodrow Wilson Bridge Replacement

AAEA was the only environmental group in the United States to support the replacement of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. When the replacement was proposed, NIMBYs and most other environmental groups opposed the new bridge because they believed it would create more traffic because such an amenity would 'encourage' people to drive their cars. We aggressively disagreed with that assessment and led the environmental fight to get the bridge approved. AAEA presented testimony in favor of the project at the hearings for the bridge and generated positive publicity through press conferences and support rallies. Specifically, we showed that the 12-lane bridge would improve air pollution and family time by getting people to their destinations faster. We also pointed out that bridges do not 'emit' pollution.

Of course, as we have become accustomed to with other such successes, AAEA is getting no public recognition for this great success. This stealth quality seems to apply to much of our good work. Fortunately we live in the age of the Blog. But it appears that we are not alone this time. According to The Washington Post:

"Event organizers said the region's U.S. House delegation could not make the ceremony because of a scheduled vote, an explanation seconded by the office of Rep Frank R. Wolf (R-Va). But U.S. Rep. James P. Moran (D-Va) said he, Wolf and Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) boycotted the event because they felt snubbed. "Frank and Tom and I were a little bit peeved that we worked as hard as we did to get all that money and were put up in the peanut gallery, and the three people who had nothing to do with it tooted across the bridge," Moran said. He was referring to the two governors and to D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who was not at the event."

The event organizers are the same people who were constantly in contact with us and encouraged our support when all other environmental groups opposed the project. Yet AAEA did not receive an invitation to participate in the dedication ceremony that caused massive complaints from commuters yesterday because of rubbernecking delays. We are finding that our support is appreciated at the proposal stage of project development, but we are not included in the celebrations, recognition and other benefits after the projects are approved and built. Every time we see or cross the new bridge, we will smile at the knowledge that we played a small but significant role in its construction. AAEA will continue to do good work and support projects that we think benefit society and are environmentally friendly.

Drawing: Original rendering of bridge. Courtesy Woodrow Wilson Bridge Center

Bush Administration Protects 'Threatened' Polar Bear

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) of the Department of the Interior listed polar bears as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act on May 13, 2008 due to the loss of Arctic sea ice. The FWS will now draft a recovery plan that will include assessing the population and its habitat. (News Release)

The Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council petitioned to list the polar bear in 2005 and ultimately sued the Interior Department to force the regulation. A concern of the administration is that environmental groups will use the regulation to limit carbon dioxide emissions throughout society instead of waiting for global warming legislation to pass in Congress.

Proposed ESA special 4(d) Rule

CBO Study on Nuclear Power's Role In Generating Electricity

The May 2008 U.S. Congressional Budget Office study, "Nuclear Power's Role in Generating Electricity:"

1) assesses the commercial viability of advanced nuclear technology as a means of meeting future demand for electricity by comparing the costs of producing electricity from different sources under varying circumstances.
2) estimates the cost of producing electricity using a new generation of nuclear reactors and other base-load technologies under a variety of assumptions about prospective carbon dioxide charges, Energy Policy Act (EPAct) incentives, and future market conditions.
3) compares the cost of advanced nuclear technology with that of other major sources of base-load capacity that are available throughout the country—including both conventional and innovative fossil-fuel technologies.
4) focuses only on technologies that can be used as base-load capacity in most parts of the country, it does not address renewable energy technologies that are intermittent (such as wind and solar power) or technologies that use resources readily available only in certain areas (such as geothermal or hydroelectric power).

CBO's analysis yields the following conclusions:

■ In the absence of both carbon dioxide charges and EPAct incentives, conventional fossil-fuel technologies would most likely be the least expensive source of new electricity-generating capacity.
■ Carbon dioxide charges of about $45 per metric ton would probably make nuclear generation competitive with conventional fossil-fuel technologies as a source of new capacity, even without EPAct incentives.
■ Also at roughly $45 per metric ton, carbon dioxide charges would probably make nuclear generation competitive with existing coal power plants and could lead utilities in a position to do so to build new nuclear plants that would eventually replace existing coal power plants.
■ EPAct incentives would probably make nuclear generation a competitive technology for limited additions to base-load capacity, even in the absence of carbon dioxide charges. CBO anticipates that only a few of the 30 plants currently being proposed would be built if utilities did not expect carbon dioxide charges to be imposed.
■ Uncertainties about future construction costs or natural gas prices could deter investment in nuclear power.

In another report from Amory Lovins, founder and president of the Rocky Mountain Institute, he says: "Forget Nuclear"

Fannie Mae Posts $2.2 Billion Loss In First Quarter of 2008

Fannie Mae, which owns or guarantees nearly $3 trillion of mortgage-related investments, posted a loss of $2.19 ($2.57 per share) from January through March of this year. Fannie Mae is chartered by the government to keep mortgage money flowing and is responsible for about half the securities being issued to fund home mortgages. It packages mortgages into securities for sale to investors, promising to make the payments if the borrowers default. The company also buys mortgages directly. Those activities help lenders get mortgages off their books and replenish the funds needed to make more loans.

One factor in the loss is that home prices fell an average of 3 percent in the quarter and are expected to fall 7 to 9 percent nationally this year. (The Washington Post)

U.S. Nuclear Power Agreement With Russia Good and Bad

The U.S. signed an agreement with Russia on May 6 to import, store and reprocess thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel that had been supplied by the U.S. for reactors around the world. The agreement is good because it promotes nuclear fuels reprocessing. It is also good because it will reduce the risk for countries to divert that material to weapons programs. The agreement is bad because it is a poor substitute for America having its own nuclear fuels reprocessing facilities. The agreement is a complement to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP).

Russia is planning to build a nuclear fuel reprocessing facility in eastern Siberia. An agreement with Washington is key to the plant's viability, as the U.S. controls the vast majority of the world's spent fuel through agreements with third countries that it supplies with nuclear material. The agreement does not require congressional approval but could be blocked by majority votes in the House and Senate. The deal must be ratified by Russia's lower house of parliament but there should not be any opposition to the agreement. (The Washington Post)

New Black Deputy Mayor of London To Fight Crime

Newly elected Mayor Boris Johnson, left, appointed Ray Lewis, right, a black conservative, as a Deputy Mayor for Young People, which will focus on mitigating London's increased crime rate. It was the first appointment that Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party candidate who unseated incumbent Ken Livingston of the Labor Party in the mayoral election last week.

Born in Guyana in 1963, Mr. Lewis grew up in suburban Walthamstow. He began his career working as an administrative officer for the Civil Service, before becoming a Clerk in Holy Orders for the Church Commissioners in 1990. After working at HM Prison Woodhill, Mr. Lewis became Executive Director of Eastside Young Leaders' Academy in 2001. Source: Booker Rising

Futures Contracts - June

Gasoline.........................................$ 3.10/gallon

Fuel Oil..........................................$ 3.34/gallon

Coal................................................$ 99.50/ton

Natural Gas...................................$ 11.065/MMBtu (thousand cubic feet)

Ethanol..........................................$ 2.55/gallon

Corn...............................................$ 6.00/bushel

Soybeans........................................$ 12.00/bushel

Source: The Wall Street Journal (Reuters)

The Chickens Are Coming Home To Roost - Ethanol

PRESIDENT'S CORNER: By Norris McDonald. I talked to Jim Perdue recently and we both agreed that ethanol is causing serious food price problems. Of course, Jim is on the front line. I agree with him that relief is needed from the ethanol mandate. This is a nationwide and global problem now. Yet looking right here in Maryland, according to Delawareonline: "Perdue expects chicken feed will cost about $200 million more this year compared to last year." Barack Obama, John McCain and about a quarter of the U.S. Senate are urging EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to use his waiver authority to eliminate the biofuels mandate. Title XV of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (H.R. 6) authorizes a waiver:

Cites conditions under which the Administrator may waive requirements for the renewable fuel program, based in part upon an assessment by the Secretary of Energy whether the renewable fuel requirement will likely result in significant adverse impacts on consumers on a national, regional, or state basis in 2006.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (H.R. 6) mandated 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (H.R. 6) increased the mandate to 36 billion gallons by 2022. Although we support a mix of energy sources, we always expressed reservations about ethanol based on two primary concerns: 1) food prices and 2) increased smog (ethanol use will increase nitrogen emissions--a component of smog). There is also the water conundrum: it takes 1,700 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol.

But it appears that frat hedged his bets by diversifying into the ethanol biz. Perdue formed Perdue BioEnergy LLC, a new company that focuses on the growing biofuels industry. The company currently partners with biodiesel and ethanol producers to provide feedstocks and to market co-products. In May 2006, Perdue signed an agreement to provide corn to Northeast Biofuels LLC for an ethanol plant to be built in Fulton, New York. Yet Jim's strength is chickens and his chicken business and American food prices are being hurt by ethanol.

At signing of the 2005 law

Photo: Norris & Jim at Perdue AgriRecycle Plant

Business Opportunities in the Nuclear Power Industry

AAEA is sponsoring a forum entitled "Environmental Justice & Nuclear Power: "Business Opportunities in the Nuclear Energy Industry," at The State of Environmental Justice in America 2008 Conference at the Howard University School of Law. The forum will examine how African American businessmen can participate in the anticipated nuclear power plant construction renaissance. The forum will bring together representatives from the nuclear power industry, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders interested in assuring that America will have the power it needs to satisfy our society.

FULL DESCRIPTION

Blacks do not own any of the energy infrastructure in the U.S. This forum will examine how companies could benefit by serving as mentors to minority entrepreneurs and investors. America is poised to launch a renewal of nuclear power plant construction, which will involve billions of dollars for each plant. There are huge opportunities to participate in this renaissance if minority entrepreneurs and investors are aware of the products and services needed. These opportunities include steel and concrete delivery, transportation of nuclear waste by truck, rail and barge, security, construction of casks for transport of spent fuel to Yucca Mountain, electricians, physicists, metal and concrete workers, plumbers, computers, electronics, and more.

The forum will also examine potential constraints to participation and how these problems can be overcome. Although nuclear power is not normally included as providing green jobs, this workshop will clearly describe how this industry will be creating such employment and how it can be leveraged to create opportunities in other areas, such as emissions trading.

Moderator: Ken Theobalds, Vice President of Governmental Affairs for Entergy Nuclear Northeast. Panelists: Daniel Mussatti, Senior Environmental Economist, Office of New Reactors, Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Brian Reilly, Principal Vice President and Manager, Nuclear Operations of Bechtel Power Corporation. Derrick Freeman, Senior Director of Legislative Programs, Nuclear Energy Institute. Norris McDonald, President, African American Environmentalist Association.

Environmental Justice & Nuclear Power: "Business Opportunities in the Nuclear Energy Industry," The State of Environmental Justice in America 2008 Conference, Howard University School of Law, Houston Hall B, Classroom #4, Friday, May 23, 2008, 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.

Videos From 2007 Nuclear Forum

Friends of the Earth Endorses Senator Barack Obama

Friends of the Earth Action, a national environmental group based in Washington, D.C., announced today that it is endorsing Senator Barack Obama, right, to be the nation’s next president.

“We endorse Senator Obama because we believe he is the best candidate for the environment,” said Friends of the Earth Action President Brent Blackwelder, left. “The ‘gas tax holiday’ debate is a defining moment in the presidential race. The two other candidates responded with sham solutions that won’t ease pain at the pump, but Senator Obama refused to play that typical Washington game. Instead, Obama called for real solutions that would make transportation more affordable and curb global warming. He showed the courage and candor we expect from a president.”

Blackwelder cited Obama’s strong pro-environment record, his policy proposals, the profile he has given global warming in his campaign, and the broad mandate he is building for change as other reasons for the endorsement. Obama earned a 96 percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters during his first two years in the Senate. Blackwelder said Friends of the Earth Action plans to inform its more than 100,000 activists in the U.S. about its support for Obama and to campaign for him in remaining primaries. (Press Release)

Friends of the Earth Action serves as Friends of the Earth's political arm, making thoughtful political endorsements, providing direct support to candidates to ensure that we have lawmakers who will work to protect the environment. Friends of the Earth Action previously endorsed John Edwards in the Democratic primary process and engaged in early state independent expenditures on his behalf.

AAEA President Norris McDonald has been a friend and colleague of Brent Blackwelder for 30 years.

Turner's Station: The Most Polluted Community on Earth?

Phyllis Seward and Maxine Thompson

AAEA and activists from Turner's Station, a black community just outside of Baltimore City, have agreed to work together to protect residents from pollution. The community exists in the middle of a perfect storm of pollution sources. The Maryland Department of the Environment, which was located less than a mile away from this community, even moved out of the area several years ago. Turner's Station is surrounded by a steel production plant, landfill, electric utility plant and the high power lines run through the community, soil and groundwater chromium contamination, Interstate Highway 695 yards away and nearby Patapsco River dredge spoil. Turner's Station has to be the most polluted neighborhood in the United States.

Maxine Thompson and Phyllis Seward, pictured above, are two of the principal local activists working to protect Turner's Station. As long time residents of the community, they are knowledgeable about all of the pollution sources threatening their community. With little to no resources, they plead their case to whomever will listen. To date, there has been little to no protection offered or solutions applied. AAEA has agreed to work with Mrs. Thompson and Ms. Seward to protect this community, particularly the most vulnerable: asthmatic children and elderly residents.

AAEA believes that Turner's Station is in an industrial zone and humans should not live there. Our hope is that the multibillion dollar international companies will step up to assist with mitigating the environmental conditions faced by residents of Turner's Station. We know that such generosity would create goodwill among federal agencies considering environmental injustice issues and state agencies charged with approving air and water permits. Turner's Station is in serious need of help. AAEA is promoting two principle solutions to the problems at Turner's Station:

1) Buyout for every resident household

2) Minority partnership and equity in any proposed facilities.

Severstal, Russia's largest steelmaker, run by billionaire Alexei Mordashov, purchased and is currently operating the Sparrows Point steel mill southeast of Baltimore for $810 million, fulfilling an antitrust mandate that Arcelor Mittal divest itself of the Mittal Steel plant. The purchase places Severstal among the five largest U.S. steel producers. Mittal Steel, owned by Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, merged with Luxembourg-based Arcelor in 2006 to form Arcelor Mittal, the world's biggest steel company. It agreed to relinquish the Baltimore plant to resolve Justice Department antitrust concerns.

Bethlehem Steel owned Sparrows Point from the early 1900s until the company declared bankruptcy in 2000. In 2003 the plant was purchased by International Steel Group (ISG), which merged with LTV Steel to create the largest U.S. steel producer. Mittal bought ISG for about $4.5 billion in 2004, merging it with his Ispat International and LNM Holdings. Then in 2006, Mittal merged with Arcelor, prompting the divestment.

AES has a proposal to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on the front end of the Severstal site at Sparrows Point. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will be holding a hearing on the LNG project on June 9, 2008 at Patapsco High School Auditorium, 8100 Wise Avenue, Baltimore, MD 410-887-7060 at 7 p.m. The FERC has issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and a hard copy is available for review at the North Point Library, 1716 Merritt Boulevard, Baltimore, MD 21222. The DEIS is woefully inadequate in addressing the environmental justice issue facing Turner's Station. There are also many questions about the way AES has dealt with the Turner's Station community.

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1st EPA Administrator Endorses Senator Barack Obama

Former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Wiliam 'Bill' Ruckelshaus endorsed Senater Barack Obama today. Ruckelshaus is from Indiana and hopes to influence voters in next weeks primary. Ruckelshaus became the EPA's first administrator when the agency was formed in December 1970. He was nominated to the position by President Richard Nixon, pictured at left, with Ruckelshaus at the swearing-in.

He conducted a three-month hearing on DDT and instituted a ban on pesticide. The EPA activity and ban were came as a result of heightened fears about pesticides that was featured in Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. Unfortunately, the hysteria created by the book and EPA's action led to an international ban on its use, which could help in preventing millions of deaths in African countries suffering and dying from the malaria parasite carried in mosquitos.

William Doyle Ruckelshaus served as the EPA Administrator from December 1970 to April 1973. He left EPA in 1973 to serve as Acting FBI Director, during the Nixon Administration's cabinet openings during the Watergate scandal, then served briefly as Deputy Attorney General at the Justice Department. The official birthday of EPA is December 2, 1970.

AAEA On WEAA Radio 88.9 in Baltimore, Maryland

AAEA President Norris McDonald was interviews on WEAA Radio 88.9 by Mario Armstrong yesterday. They discussed local, regional and national environmental issues. WEAA is a public radio station that strives to educate and enlighten Baltimore and beyond by offering programming that is culturally diverse and artistic in nature. As the leading provider of jazz, news and public affairs programming WEAA operates free from commercial influence. National news and talk are complemented by our award winning locally produced interactive content. Consistent with public radio’s core values of integrity, credibility and respect of our listeners we maintain the highest journalistic standards.

Mario Armstrong's Digital Spin every Wednesday 7p-8p EST on NPR affiliate WEAA - 88.9 fm - Listen online 7pm est

Dominion Having Trouble Siting Natural Gas Station

Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion energy company is moving the location of a planned natural-gas compressor station from Middletown area of Frederick County, Md. to an 11-acre site in the unincorporated community of Jefferson, about five miles south of Middletown. The company faced fierce NIMBY opposition in the Middletown area claiming the $55 million complex would:

1) Ruin the landscape around the South Mountain Civil War Battlefield

2) Endanger their water supply and air quality.

3) Worries about increased commercial use on the 135-acre site.

Dominion said the compressor station is needed to pump natural gas from Pennsylvania to Virginia. The natural gas will be used by electrical power stations to meet the growing need of customers in the region.

Representative Roscoe Bartlett has asked federal regulators to review the project site. Compressor stations help keep natural gas moving through underground pipelines. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) also request the company to consider an alternative location. Based on the original proposal, construction would not start until 2012, with completion by 2014.

View Larger Map

(WTOPNews.com) (FrederickNewsPost.com)

Maryland Legislature Passes Energy & Environment Bills

Several environmental and energy bills were passed during the Maryland Legislature's General Assembly Session (Jan-Mar) and signed by Governor Martin O'Malley, including legislation that:

1) Sets out how to spend the regional auction proceeds,

2) Limits development near the Chesapeake Bay,

3) Establishes "green" building standards for new schools, and

4) Ratifies an agreement with Constellation Energy Group that provides $170, one-time rebates to residential customers of Baltimore Gas & Electric Company.

Carbon credit auction proceeds, for example, will go to energy efficiency and conservation programs meant to lower electricity usage and bills. There will be an increase in grants for solar energy and geothermal heat pump systems for homes. The new laws aim to reduce the state's energy consumption 15 percent by 2015 and to double the amount of renewable energy that power companies must provide for sale to customers to 20 percent by 2022.

The Constellation settlement is valued at $2 billion and ends a legal battle with the state. In addition to the credits, consumers would no longer be obligated to pay $1.5 billion in future costs for dismantling nuclear power plants in Southern Maryland, as had been stipulated as part of the state's 1999 deregulation plan. The settlement also gives the state some assurance that the company will build a nuclear power plant here. In exchange, the company avoids regulatory inquiries into certain costs consumers paid as part of the state's move to a deregulated energy industry.

Under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative - a cooperative effort of 10 northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states to fight global warming - carbon-dioxide emission "allowances" are to be auctioned this year. The cap-and-trade system in Maryland is expected to raise $80 million to $260 million a year.

The Department of the Environment plans to promulgate rules by January to set aside up to 5 percent of carbon credits under the regional auction for cleaner energy generators that come online before the summer of 2012. That would potentially include Competitive Power Ventures Inc., (CPV) plans to build a 640-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant in Charles County that would provide electricity to about 600,000 homes in Washington and Central Maryland. CPV is based in Silver Spring, MD. The set-asides would level the playing field for new power plants competing for energy contracts with generators in neighboring states such as Pennsylvania and Virginia, which are not part of the regional auction. The credits would have cost tens of millions of dollars and the exemptions would be limited to the first six years of the system. (BaltimoreSun.com)

Senate Passes Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act

The Senate voted 95-0 to approve the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (H.R. 493), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of genetic information with respect to health insurance and employment. The legislation now goes back to the House, which passed in the House of Representatives on April 25, 2007 by a roll call vote of 420 Ayes, 3 Nays, 9 Present/Not Voting. President Bush supports the legislation. AAEA supported the legislation.

Title I - Genetic Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance: (Excerpt) Prohibits a group health plan from requesting or requiring an individual or family member of an individual from undergoing a genetic test. Provides that such prohibition does not: (1) limit the authority of a health care professional to request an individual to undergo a genetic test; or (2) preclude a group health plan from obtaining or using the results of a genetic test in making a determination regarding payment. Requires the plan to request only the minimum amount of information necessary to accomplish the intended purpose.

Title II - Prohibiting Employment Discrimination on the Basis of Genetic Information: (Excerpt) Prohibits, as an unlawful employment practice, an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee from discriminating against an employee, individual, or member because of genetic information. Prohibits, as an unlawful employment practice, an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee from limiting, segregating, or classifying employees, individuals, or members because of genetic information in any way that would deprive or tend to deprive such individuals of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect their status as employees.

Jody Platt Garcia and Corey Turner from the University of Michigan and the Genetics Equity Network, did an excellent job of coordinating educational outreach and support for this legislation. GEN also provided testimony before Congress in support of the bill. (The Washington Post) (2006 Howard Univ Conference)

Ted Turner Finds Religion But Misses Mark On Malaria

Mr. Turner, right, is apologizing to the religious for insulting religion most of his life, but partnering with churches to fight malaria. We applaud his interest but disagree with his method. Mr. Turner has chosen the politically correct route of bed nets instead of the effective route of utilizing DDT. Using heavy outdoor spraying of DDT would eliminate the mosquitos that carry the malaria parasite and after the pest is eliminated, stop the spraying. That is the way we eliminated malaria in the United States and is a very good model for eliminating malaria in the region where is is needlessly killing the most people: Africa.

The disease kills more than 1 million people a year — mostly women and children under the age of 5 in Sub-Saharan Africa Traditional environmental groups are more concerned about the health of birds than the lives of African children and have used their multibillion-dollar international might to crush the effective use of DDT to permanently solve this problem. All bird populations threatened by the use of DDT in America recovered after its use stopped.

Turner's United Nations Foundation, which he started in 1997 with a $1 billion donation, launched a $200 million anti-malaria project with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the United Methodist Church. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also provided a $10 million grant that will help promote the campaign in churches. Turner's foundation is working with the Nothing But Nets campaign, which provides insecticide-treated bed nets in needy communities. Instead of wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on ineffective bed nets, several million dollars worth of DDT should be utilized to solve this problem. AAEA would be happy to make these arrangements.

AAEA President on NPR on 38th Earth Day Anniversary

Listen Now

African American Environmentalist Association (AAEA) President Norris McDonald, left, appeared on National Public Radio (NPR) on the 39th Earth Day (April 22) and discussed environmental and environmental justice issues. During the program he discussed the upcoming State of Environmental Justice in America Conference 2008 and many other issues. Click on the link above to listen to the interview.

The theme of the program was, "How Does 'Going Green' Impact Black America?" NPR writes:

"The environmental movement has become increasingly mainstream, but on this 38th anniversary of Earth Day, we take a look at how it affects African Americans. For people struggling to survive a tough economy, do they have time to care about being "green"? We get insight from Monique Harden, co-director of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, and Norris McDonald, president of the African American Environmentalist Association."

Wind Generation From Tribal Lands

The Rosebud Sioux turbine paved the way for the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota to commission a 65-kilowatt turbine in 2005. Tribal lands are rich in wind and it is estimated that the wind energy potential from reservations in the northern Great Plains is enough to power about 50 million homes annually. Tribal leaders are looking to wind-powered electricity generation to forge a renewable energy economy. Since 1995, a coalition of Great Plains tribes known as the Intertribal Council On Utility Policy (COUP) has worked to generate jobs and new revenue streams through tribal-owned wind energy projects. These utility-scale turbines are arrayed along federal transmission lines that carry hydroelectric power from the mainstem Missouri River dams. This will allow the tribes to sell surplus power to the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), markets and transmits electricity from federal hydroelectric power plants.

Persistent droughts throughout the West have reduced federal hydropower production nearly 50 percent, so WAPA has filled the shortfall with lignite coal-fired electricity - significantly increasing emissions near tribal lands. Nationally, reservation households are 10 times less likely to be electrified than other U.S. households. Small wind and solar projects are expensive, especially for tribal communities, where unemployment may be 50 percent. In large-scale projects, however, the tribes have the opportunity to invest in renewable energy-based economies. The Rosebud Sioux tribe of south-central South Dakota initiated the phased wind-development plan. Dedicated in 2003, Rosebud's initial utility-scale, 750-kilowatt (kW) turbine, "Little Soldier," is installed at the Rosebud Hotel and Casino, the tribe's largest commercial development center.

In 1999, Rosebud became the first tribe to receive a grant - covering half the turbine's cost, about $500,000 - under the U.S. Department of Energy's Tribal Renewable Energy Grants. The tribe secured a loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service to finance the balance. The tribe decided to sell the bulk of the turbine's output as bundled "green power" to a local Air Force Base on a short-term contract. That established the precedent for tribes to be green power vendors to the U.S. government. The tribe sold off the remaining generation and environmental attributes of the turbine's output into separate markets, as "energy" to the local utility and as carbon offsets to marketer NativeEnergy, of which COUP has a majority equity stake on behalf of its member tribes.

The 195-foot turbine produces 2.4 million kilowatt-hours per year - keeping 25 million tons of lignite coal in the ground over its lifetime. The second phase of the Rosebud project is the 30-megawatt St. Francis wind farm, scheduled for construction this year. Together, the Rosebud turbines will comprise the nation's first large-scale Native American-owned and -operated wind farm. Integrating tribal wind with the grid, The Rosebud tribe's wind project was a landmark for tribal wind development, overcoming legal and business barriers that had discouraged utility-scale renewable energy development interconnected to the integrated regional grid system of federal and private operators. It paved the way for other Intertribal COUP tribes to install utility-scale turbines. These include 65-kW turbines commissioned on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota in 2005 and at the KILI Radio Station on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation in May, along with the multimegawatt project planned at Rosebud.

These turbine installations are but the first stage of the Intertribal COUP's wind-development plan. The Council vision is to tap the immense wind power potential on tribal lands, integrating two-dozen projects in six states with the federal hydroelectric generation and transmission grid. Tens of thousands of tribal members on 20 reservations would benefit directly from new, sustainable jobs and from the power and health benefits of local clean energy. The initial goal is for eight to 12 distributed projects totaling several hundred megawatts.

(Source: Pat Spears, president and Bob Gough, secretary of the Intertribal COUP, a nonprofit council of federally recognized Indian tribes in the northern Great Plains.)