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Energy development impacts on Indigenous peoples

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The energy development impacts on Indigenous peoples results from the different energy technologies, policies, and the effects of energy sourcing and development.  Areas of concern to Indigenous peoples include the influx of non-Indigenous peoples, environmental law violations, the generation and storage of contaminated waste created by operations and impacts on the health and wellbeing of the local community.[1]

Map of Native American reservations in the Continental United States.

Indigenous tribes in the western United States own a considerable portion of the nation's uranium, strippable coal, oil shale, geothermal, natural gas and petroleum reserves.[2]

Energy development is the field of activities and operations focused on obtaining forms of energy from our natural resources. Energy is used in all aspects of our society and supports the growth of our economy, transportation, trade, agriculture, and industries.

Types of Energy

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Energy resources can be classified by their renewability, either renewable or non-renewable.  They are also classified as primary or secondary resources.  Primary resources do not have to be converted into another form for end use while secondary sources do.

  • Fossil fuels
    • Coal
    • Petroleum
    • Natural gas
  • Nuclear
  • Renewable
    • Hydroelectric
    • Wind
    • Solar
    • Biofuels
    • Geothermal
    • Oceanic

Impacts on Environment

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Each of the different energy technologies varies in their impact on Indigenous land.  This includes Native American reservations and unceded land.

Water

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Impacts on the water that Indigenous peoples rely upon is obvious.  Indigenous peoples have always fought for their water rights.  In the mid-1900’s, most of the streams and rivers in the west were fully allocated and dammed.  They were diverted and used for farming irrigation, as well as energy, mining, and urban development, by non-Indigenous peoples.[3] .   Indigenous peoples utilize traditional food sources, which include water-based species.  Damming directly effects these species through well documented environmental impacts, their accessibility and numbers decline which puts Indigenous peoples at a risk for food security and nutrition status.[4] Dams are used to store water, prevent floods, and provide a source of renewable energy. They also destroy carbon sinks in wetlands and oceans, prevent the exchange of nutrients in ecosystems, destroy habitats and displace poor communities.[5]


History of mining on Native reservations has left a legacy of toxic mining waste exposure among Indigenous populations. This is due to the lack of environmental protections in the 1872 mining law, which means that not only is direct contamination occurring on Indigenous land but through continued draining of contaminated mine water into surrounding watersheds.[6]

Air

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Many reservations have coal reserves, coal mines and coal plants.  Electricity generation is a large contributor to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution.[7] Coal plants found on the Navajo Nation and Crow tribal lands release a large number of toxins and pollutants when burned, including lead, mercury, sulfur dioxide, particulates, and nitrogen oxides.[8] Wind energy is a renewable source that be used to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.  It also can impact habitat by fragmentation for species and the spinning blades also pose a severe risk to birds and bats.[9]

Land

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Mining poses a severe risk to Indigenous land quality and vastness of the problem is unknown due to the unmarked mining sites and inadequate mine records.  Indigenous lands in the western states have been mined for gold, lead, silver, uranium, molybdenum, copper, and vanadium.[10] There are currently more than 160,000 abandoned hard rock mines[11] and it is estimated that more than 600,000 Native Americans live within 10 km of an abandoned mining site.[10]

The transportation of acquired resources also poses a threat to Indigenous lands by way of pipelines. If a leak does occur once the pipe is built, residents will be at risk of toxic exposure. In every instance of a tar sand leak in populated areas, toxic chemical exposure through respiration has occurred.[12] Indigenous peoples have fought against development of pipelines for various reasons, one of the biggest events in the past years was the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline by the Oceti Sakowin.

Dakota access oil pipeline construction


Impacts on health of Indigenous peoples

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https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61252-5

Each source of energy provides its own health risks. The biggest health impacts accrue to the harvesting and burning of solid fuels, coal and biomass, mainly in the form of occupational health risks and household and general ambient air pollution.[13]

Not only does mining pose risks to its workers such as explosions, gas inhalation, cave-ins, machinery accidents, floods, and mine-shaft falls[14] but it also effects those in the surrounding areas. Particulate matter—both coarser PM10 and finer PM2.5—are epidemiologically associated with both acute and chronic mortality in urban areas, as well as with increases in hospitalizations and respiratory symptoms and decreases in lung function.[15] Communities near refineries are often also exposed to a range of air toxics[13]

Uranium mining poses a unique risk due to radon gas exposure, which shows an elevated rate of lung cancer in these workers.[16] Contaminated waste has effected the local communities in Navajo Nation, where in a community in northeastern Arizona uranium levels in spring water were found to be five times higher than safe drinking water standards.[17] Navajo neuropathy and other conditions have been linked to uranium contamination.[18]

Impacts on Economy

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Energy development is integral to tribal efforts to generate jobs and to improve tribal members’ standard of living.[19] For many tribes, energy development is the primary revenue generator to fund education, infrastructure, and other public services on tribal land. [20] Reservations contain almost 30 percent of the nation’s coal reserves west of the Mississippi, 50 percent of potential uranium reserves, and 20 percent of known oil and gas reserves.[21] There is a long history of distrust between the energy industry, federal government and tribal nations due to a complex relationship and colonialism.

Impacts on culture and community wellbeing

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Many tribal nations consider the environment and natural world as sacred. It is considered an integral part of their culture and livelihood. Often times energy development is opposed due to its negative effects on the environment, as seen in Hawaii. Geothermal development on Hawaii's volcanic areas is opposed by Native Hawaiians because it threatens a sacred space.[22] Another example would be the illegal occupation of the Black Hills by the United States. They offered the Sioux nation $102 million USD as compensation for their loss but it was never collected and still sits in reserve.[10] Through these instances, it can be seen that the western view of the environment and tribal views differ because it is about more than money for tribal nations.

Land is important for a variety of reasons:[1]

  1. it provides subsistence for people
  2. it is the source of spiritual origins and creation for tribal people
  3. it continues to be a spiritual landscape
  4. it is a sacred place upon which generations and generations of tribal people have lived and practiced their ceremonies
  5. it is irreplaceable and tribal people are unlikely to relocate from their ancestral lands.

Community well being is also adversely affected by the influx of non-native individuals to tribal lands. "Man-camps" are created by the energy industry to house workers, who are primarily men. In 2016, the National Congress of American Indians (“NCAI”) passed Resolution #PHX16-078 that stated, “there is a particular concern about the relationship between the extractive industries and sex trafficking.”[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b Tauli-Corpuz, Victoria (2/25/2017). "Energy Development Impacts on Indigenous Peoples" (PDF). University of New Mexico School of Law Natural Resources and Environmental Law Clinic: 34. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); line feed character in |journal= at position 39 (help)
  2. ^ Jorgensen, Joseph G.; And Others (1978/00/00). Native Americans and Energy Development. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Kendy, Eloise; Aylward, Bruce; Ziemer, Laura S.; Richter, Brian D.; Colby, Bonnie G.; Grantham, Theodore E.; Sanchez, Leslie; Dicharry, Will B.; Powell, Emily M.; Martin, Season; Culp, Peter W. (2018). "Water Transactions for Streamflow Restoration, Water Supply Reliability, and Rural Economic Vitality in the Western United States". JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association. 54 (2): 487–504. doi:10.1111/1752-1688.12619. ISSN 1752-1688.
  4. ^ Church, Jerilyn; Ekechi, Chinyere O.; Hoss, Aila; Larson, Anika Jade (2015). "Tribal Water Rights: Exploring Dam Construction in Indian Country". The Journal of law, medicine & ethics : a journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics. 43 (0 1): 60–63. doi:10.1111/jlme.12218. ISSN 1073-1105. PMC 4699571. PMID 25846167.
  5. ^ "Protect the environment/Right of nature". Earth Law Center | The Solution to Toughest Environmental Challenges. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  6. ^ Lewis, Johnnye; Hoover, Joseph; MacKenzie, Debra (2017). "Mining and Environmental Health Disparities in Native American Communities". Current Environmental Health Reports. 4 (2): 130–141. doi:10.1007/s40572-017-0140-5. ISSN 2196-5412. PMC 5429369. PMID 28447316.
  7. ^ Thind, Maninder P. S.; Tessum, Christopher W.; Azevedo, Inês L.; Marshall, Julian D. (2019-12-03). "Fine Particulate Air Pollution from Electricity Generation in the US: Health Impacts by Race, Income, and Geography". Environmental Science & Technology. 53 (23): 14010–14019. doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b02527. ISSN 0013-936X.
  8. ^ "Coal Power Impacts | Union of Concerned Scientists". www.ucsusa.org. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  9. ^ "Environmental Impacts and Siting of Wind Projects". Energy.gov. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  10. ^ a b c Lewis, Johnnye; Hoover, Joseph; MacKenzie, Debra (2017-06-01). "Mining and Environmental Health Disparities in Native American Communities". Current Environmental Health Reports. 4 (2): 130–141. doi:10.1007/s40572-017-0140-5. ISSN 2196-5412. PMC 5429369. PMID 28447316.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link)
  11. ^ Office, U. S. Government Accountability. "Hardrock Mining: Information on Abandoned Mines and Value and Coverage of Financial Assurances on BLM Land". www.gao.gov. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  12. ^ "Oil Pipelines and Spills - Climate, Energy, and Society - College of Liberal Arts - Auburn University". cla.auburn.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  13. ^ a b Smith, Kirk R.; Frumkin, Howard; Balakrishnan, Kalpana; Butler, Colin D.; Chafe, Zoë A.; Fairlie, Ian; Kinney, Patrick; Kjellstrom, Tord; Mauzerall, Denise L.; McKone, Thomas E.; McMichael, Anthony J. (2013-03-18). "Energy and Human Health". Annual Review of Public Health. 34 (1): 159–188. doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031912-114404. ISSN 0163-7525.
  14. ^ Office, International Labour (1998). Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety. International Labour Organization. ISBN 978-92-2-109203-2.
  15. ^ Weinmayr Gudrun; Romeo Elisa; De Sario Manuela; Weiland Stephan K.; Forastiere Francesco (2010-04-01). "Short-Term Effects of PM10 and NO2 on Respiratory Health among Children with Asthma or Asthma-like Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis". Environmental Health Perspectives. 118 (4): 449–457. doi:10.1289/ehp.0900844. PMC 2854719. PMID 20064785.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link)
  16. ^ Grosche, B.; Kreuzer, M.; Kreisheimer, M.; Schnelzer, M.; Tschense, A. (2006-11). "Lung cancer risk among German male uranium miners: a cohort study, 1946–1998". British Journal of Cancer. 95 (9): 1280–1287. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6603403. ISSN 1532-1827. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Blake, Johanna M.; Avasarala, Sumant; Artyushkova, Kateryna; Ali, Abdul-Mehdi S.; Brearley, Adrian J.; Shuey, Christopher; Robinson, Wm. Paul; Nez, Christopher; Bill, Sadie; Lewis, Johnnye; Hirani, Chris (2015-07-21). "Elevated Concentrations of U and Co-occurring Metals in Abandoned Mine Wastes in a Northeastern Arizona Native American Community". Environmental Science & Technology. 49 (14): 8506–8514. doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b01408. ISSN 0013-936X.
  18. ^ US EPA, REG 09 (2015-07-21). "Navajo Nation: Cleaning Up Abandoned Uranium Mines". US EPA. Retrieved 2021-04-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "Energy & Minerals". National Congress of American Indians. Retrieved 4/23/2021. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ "Tribal Energy Resources: Reducing Barriers to Opportunity". PERC. 2018-07-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  21. ^ Grogan, Maura (2011). "Native American Lands and Natural Resource Development" (PDF). Revenue Watch Institute. Retrieved 4/23/2021. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help); line feed character in |title= at position 26 (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ^ Edelstein, Michael R.; Kleese, Deborah A. (1995-01-01). "Cultural relativity of impact assessment: Native Hawaiian opposition to geothermal energy development". Society & Natural Resources. 8 (1): 19–31. doi:10.1080/08941929509380896. ISSN 0894-1920.
  23. ^ White Owl, Roger (2016). "Support for Maintaining Collaborative Efforts with Federal, State, and Private Partners to Combat Human Trafficking in Indian Country". National Congress of American Indians. Retrieved 4/23/2021. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)