May 30, 2008
The Energy Challenge

By MATTHEW L. WALD

WASHINGTON — For years, scientists have had a straightforward idea for taming global warming. They want to take the carbon dioxide that spews from coal-burning power plants and pump it back into the ground.

President Bush is for it, and indeed has spent years talking up the virtues of “clean coal.” All three candidates to succeed him favor the approach. So do many other members of Congress. Coal companies are for it. Many environmentalists favor it. Utility executives are practically begging for the technology.

But it has become clear in recent months that the nation’s effort to develop the technique is lagging badly.

In January, the government canceled its support for what was supposed to be a showcase project, a plant at a carefully chosen site in Illinois where there was coal, access to the power grid, and soil underfoot that backers said could hold the carbon dioxide for eons.

Perhaps worse, in the last few months, utility projects in Florida, West Virginia, Ohio, Minnesota and Washington State that would have made it easier to capture carbon dioxide have all been canceled or thrown into regulatory limbo.

Coal is abundant and cheap, assuring that it will continue to be used. But the failure to start building, testing, tweaking and perfecting carbon capture and storage means that developing the technology may come too late to make coal compatible with limiting global warming.

“It’s a total mess,” said Daniel M. Kammen, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley.

“Coal’s had a tough year,” said John Lavelle, head of a business at General Electric that makes equipment for processing coal into a form from which carbon can be captured. Many of these projects were derailed by the short-term pressure of rising construction costs. But scientists say the result, unless the situation can be turned around, will be a long-term disaster.

Plans to combat global warming generally assume that continued use of coal for power plants is unavoidable for at least several decades. Therefore, starting as early as 2020, forecasters assume that carbon dioxide emitted by new power plants will have to be captured and stored underground, to cut down on the amount of global-warming gases in the atmosphere.

Yet, simple as the idea may sound, considerable research is still needed to be certain the technique would be safe, effective and affordable.

Scientists need to figure out which kinds of rock and soil formations are best at holding carbon dioxide. They need to be sure the gas will not bubble back to the surface. They need to find optimal designs for new power plants so as to cut costs. And some complex legal questions need to be resolved, such as who would be liable if such a project polluted the groundwater or caused other damage far from the power plant.

Major corporations sense the possibility of a profitable new business, and G.E. signed a partnership on Wednesday with Schlumberger, the oil field services company, to advance the technology of carbon capture and sequestration.

But only a handful of small projects survive, and the recent cancellations mean that most of this work has come to a halt, raising doubts that the technique can be ready any time in the next few decades. And without it, “we’re not going to have much of a chance for stabilizing the climate,” said John Thompson, who oversees work on the issue for the Clean Air Task Force, an environmental group.

The fear is that utilities, lacking proven chemical techniques for capturing carbon dioxide and proven methods for storing it underground by the billions of tons per year, will build the next generation of coal plants using existing technology. That would ensure that vast amounts of global warming gases would be pumped into the atmosphere for decades.

The highest-profile failure involved a project known as FutureGen, which President Bush himself announced in 2003: a utility consortium, with subsidies from the government, was going to build a plant in Mattoon, Ill., testing the most advanced techniques for converting coal to a gas, capturing pollutants, and burning the gas for power.

The carbon dioxide would have been compressed and pumped underground into deep soil layers. Monitoring devices would have tested whether any was escaping to the atmosphere.

About $50 million has been spent on FutureGen, about $40 million in federal money and $10 million in private money, to draw up preliminary designs, find a site that had coal, electric transmission and suitable geology, and complete an Environmental Impact Statement, among other steps.

But in January, the government pulled out after projected costs nearly doubled, to $1.8 billion. The government feared the costs would go even higher. A bipartisan effort is afoot on Capitol Hill to save FutureGen, but the project is on life support.

The government had to change its approach, said Clarence Albright Jr., the undersecretary of the Energy Department, to “limit taxpayer exposure to the escalating cost.”

Trying to recover, the Energy Department is trying to cut a deal with a utility that is already planning a new power plant. The government would offer subsidies to add a segment to the plant dedicated to capturing and injecting carbon dioxide, as long as the utility bore much of the risk of cost overruns.

It is unclear whether any utility will agree to such a deal. The power companies, in fact, have been busy pulling back from coal-burning power plants of all types, amid rising costs and political pressure. Utility executives say they do not know of a plant that would qualify for an Energy Department grant as the project is now structured.

Most worrisome to experts on global warming, the utilities have recently been canceling their commitments to a type of plant long seen as a helpful intermediate step toward cleaner coal.

In plants of this type, coal would be gasified and pollutants like mercury, sulfur and soot removed before burning. The plants would be highly efficient, and would therefore emit less carbon dioxide for a given volume of electricity produced, but they would not inject the carbon dioxide into the ground.

But the situation is not hopeless. One new gasification proposal survives in the United States, by Duke Energy for a plant in Edwardsport, Ind.

In Wisconsin, engineers are testing a method that may allow them to bolt machinery for capturing carbon dioxide onto the back of old-style power plants; Sweden, Australia and Denmark are planning similar tests. And German engineers are exploring another approach, one that involves burning coal in pure oxygen, which would produce a clean stream of exhaust gases that could be injected into the ground.

But no project is very far along, and it remains an open question whether techniques for capturing and storing carbon dioxide will be available by the time they are critically needed.

The Electric Power Research Institute, a utility consortium, estimated that it would take as long as 15 years to go from starting a pilot plant to proving the technology will work. The institute has set a goal of having large-scale tests completed by 2020.

“A year ago, that was an aggressive target,” said Steven R. Specker, the president of the institute. “A year has gone by, and now it’s a very aggressive target.”

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement has resumed work on the final environmental impact statement for the proposed Black Mesa Project and has reopened the public comment period.

Peabody Western Coal Company is funding the remaining work on the environmental impact statement. Notice of the reopened comment period was published Friday in the Federal Register.

The project’s scope has been substantially reduced because of the December 2005 closure of Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nev. Peabody, the supplier of coal to the plant, said in letters dated Feb. 25 and April 30 to Office of Surface Mining that it no longer intends to supply coal to Mohave because chances are remote that the power plant will reopen.

At the time the draft environmental impact statement was issued, the purpose of the Black Mesa Project was to continue to supply coal to Mohave and the Navajo Generating Station in Page. Peabody said it will continue to supply coal to Navajo Generating Station.

Because of the changes, portions of the project proposed in Alternative A of the environmental impact statement, formerly the preferred alternative, appear unlikely, according to Office of Surface Mining .

Included in Alternative A were: permitting the existing coal slurry preparation plant at the Black Mesa Mine Complex; reconstructing the existing 273-mile-long coal-slurry pipeline; and constructing the Coconino-aquifer water supply system and 108-mile pipeline from Leupp to the mine complex.

Though OSM says it will continue to analyze Alternative A when it prepares the final environmental impact statement, Alternative B now will become the preferred alternative.
Alternative B consists of conditional approval of Peabody’s life-of-mine permit revision, including incorporation of the Black Mesa Mine surface facilities and coal deposits into the Kayenta Mine permit area, and maintenance of a haul road between mine areas on the southern ends of Peabody’s coal leases.

The pending permit revision application would be amended to remove the plans for a coal wash plant and coal waste disposal site.

It also reduces the amount of water Navajo-aquifer water to be used from the initially proposed 2,000 acre-feet per year for mine-related uses and backup water supply to 1,236 acre-feet per year for domestic and mine-related uses. An acre-foot is equal to the volume of water necessary to cover an acre of land 1 foot deep in water.

A new road between the southern parts of Peabody’s coal leases formerly included in Alternative B is no longer being proposed. The road would have disturbed 127 acres.

Office of Surface Mining is accepting additional public comments on the draft environmental impact statement through July 7. There is no mention of additional public hearings. Persons who previously commented do not need to resubmit because Office of Surface Mining already is considering those in preparing the final environmental impact statement.

Calvin Johnson, president of the grassroots group, C-Aquifer for Dine, said the environmental impact statement lacks recent studies of endangered species and social impact study of families living within and around the land expansion.

“There still is no recent air quality study done for Black Mesa, nor is there a recent EPA air permit for the Black Mesa project. Environmental devastation of the land and the Navajo way of life will continue to be severely impacted,” he said.

If approved, the 18,984-acre lease area would relocate 17 Navajo families, according to Johnson.

The group also is concerned that URS Corp. of Phoenix developed the environmental impact statement for both the Black Mesa project and the proposed Desert Rock Energy Project in Northwest New Mexico.

Anna Frazier of Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment said that during public hearings in January 2007 on the Black Mesa draft, URS staff stated that they used USGS studies and environmental assessments that were done in the 1960s and 1970s.

“There have been changes in regulations, processes, and assessment protocols. The environment has drastically changed over the past 30 years and the environmental impact statement for Black Mesa is irrelevant because it is a conglomerate of obsolete information,” she said.
_____________________________________________

Comments on the Black Mesa Project draft EIS and preferred alternative may be submitted by e-mail or in writing.
E-mail comments should be sent to: BMKEIS@osmre.gov.

Deadline is July 7.

Written comments sent by first-class or priority U.S. Postal Service should
be mailed to:
Dennis Winterringer, Leader, Black Mesa Project EIS, OSM Western Region, P.O. Box 46667, Denver, CO 80201-6667.

Comments delivered by U.S. Postal Service Express Mail or by courier service
should be sent to:

Dennis Winterringer, Leader, Black Mesa Project EIS, OSM Western Region, 1999 Broadway, Suite 3320,
Denver, CO 80202-5733.

Information: http://www.wrcc.osmre.gov/WR/BlackMesaEIS.htm.

By Cornelia de Bruin The Daily Times
Article Launched: 05/24/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT

FARMINGTON — Attendance at the Totah Theatre showing of "Mine Your Own Business" in Farmington Thursday — 80 people — set a record in New Mexico.

The film is a documentary by filmmakers Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney. Although initiated and bankrolled by Canadian mining company Gabriel Resources Ltd., the filmmakers retained all editorial control over its content. Gabriel Resources Ltd. is one of three companies targeted by environmentalists for overseas mining projects.

Its premise of well-known environmental groups' opposition to mining projects is that no mineral extraction should be allowed anywhere — ever. The stance does not consider the economic needs of the Third World people whose homes are in the areas to be mined, said Paul Driessen, a featured speaker whose comments followed the film.

Driessen has written several books aimed at exposing what he says is the deeper environmentalist agenda. He is a Senior Policy Advisor to Congress of Racial Equality.

Speaking after the film, his comments — intended to localize the film's message — angered local activists Mike Eisenfeld of San Juan Citizens Alliance and Dailan Long of Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment.

"Don't come here and accuse us of the things you do," Eisenfeld said, adding that Driessen had no idea about the dynamics of the Navajo Nation-Desert Rock Power Plant issue.

San Juan Citizens Alliance's 500 members work locally — and independently, Eisenfeld said.

"We don't pretend to have the answers," he said. "To say I'm an obstructionist is laughable; I'm just a little guy trying to create some balance."

Driessen and Marita Noon, representing Citizens' Alliance for Responsible Energy, or CARE, are "PR people," Eisenfeld said.

Diné CARE's Long challenged Diné Power Authority's public relations spokesman Arthur Shirley's statement regarding support for the coal-burning plant. His comments followed a question and answer session after Driessen spoke.

"I said most of his community consensus' statements were false and that Desert Rock is not supported by all the people," Long said. "The Navajo are standing up and speaking out because they've endured so much so long. Diné Power Authority is wrong."

Driessen tried to take the microphone away from Long as he spoke, he said.

Long was "not convinced" by the video or by Driessen's presentation because "it ignores a lot of the complexities of energy projects."

"Don't come to our community and ask us to sacrifice so that you can turn on your TV," he said. "The video ignores our legacy: coal mining that is inevitable, two dirty coal plants and cancer victims continuing to suffer because of uranium mining."

CARE and the Río Grande Foundation sponsored Noon and Driessen's trip to Farmington.

Paul Gessing, president of the Rio Grande Foundation, said before the showing that the film is not meant to destroy environmentalists.

"They may think they are well-intentioned, but they don't really care how others are living their lives," Gessing said. "We think that, done responsibly, oil and gas drilling can be done right."

Both local producers and environmentalists attended the showing.

Albert Einstein once said, "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity." As a member of the Navajo Nation, I could not ignore the situation at Desert Rock.

I think we, the Diné, need to reevaluate the situation and the potential negative impacts that the Desert Rock project would bring to the area.

For some people, Diné or not, the issue of the Desert Rock project is probably irrelevant because they do not have to live next to it nor will it impact their lives significantly. For me, it hits close to home even though I live hundreds of miles away.

I support the courageous individuals who have risen to the challenge of speaking for those who do not fully understand the consequences and are being taken advantage of ("Longest Walkers declare opposition to Desert Rock," May 1, 2008).

Upon reading "Desert Rock coverup?" article (May 1, 2008), I could not help but question the logic and comments of Omar Bradley, BIA Navajo region director, and Frank Maisano, Sithe spokesperson.

Mr. Bradley was "shocked" at the lawsuit placed against him by Diné CARE and the San Juan Citizens Alliance regarding the withholding of certain documents, not to mention that the documents that were released had parts "redacted - blacked out."

Any reasonable and sane individual would see red flags on any "blacked-out" legal documents. Given his position in the federal government, this is probably normal procedure for him, but it is not for us and we will not accept this.

Diné CARE and the San Juan Citizens Alliance are reasonably justified in demanding more information from all involved parties because this is not some trivial issue that can be decided upon behind closed doors. If harmful effects are below tolerable levels and the project is "safe," why hide information? Furthermore, why did they seek a remote location for the site?

Bradley and Maisano seem oblivious and indifferent to the legitimate and logical concerns posited by concerned parties and the people living in the area. In fact, Mr. Maisano regards these concerns as mere delaying "tactics...(that) hurt the Navajo workers and the Navajo people who stand to benefit."

Honestly, what are the benefits of planting a potential environmental disaster in the midst of our people? Sure, it will provide jobs and some revenue, but does the promise of short-term economic potential outweigh the long-term threats that would be posed upon our people, our environment and our future?

At what point do we let materialistic ideals take precedence over human life? Keep in mind that, although money may bring instant rewards and perhaps, improve a few lives, nuclear hazards last for hundreds of years and does not discriminate.

I feel we are being coerced into a risky venture where only one side benefits and it is definitely not the Navajo Nation. We should not let Western ideals dictate what is best for our people or our culture. We already know these things and that is why we have endured for so long.

We care about the land which sustains us and, most importantly, we care about our people and our future generations. I believe in improving our current conditions on the reservation but it should not be at the great expense of others, especially if it is detrimental to human life.

Richard Nelson
Portland, Ore.
(Hometown: Mexican Water, Ariz.)

By FELICIA FONSECA and PAUL FOY
Associated Press Writers
The Associated Press
updated 10:44 a.m. MT, Tues., May. 20, 2008

BURNHAM, N.M. - In a corner of the Navajo Nation burdened by old and heavily polluting coal-fired power plants, it matters little to many tribal elders that another facility promises to be the most efficient and cleanest of all.

With two plants already a dozen miles away, the last thing they want is another one even closer, a 1,500-megawatt project barely two miles in another direction.

"We want the smoke to stop," said 76-year-old Alice Gilmore in Navajo, raising a hand toward the belching plants.

Others say the $3 billion Desert Rock Energy Facility could invigorate the lagging economy of the Navajo Nation, which stretches across parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Backers say it would bring $52 million a year in revenues to the tribal government and provide up to 400 jobs on a reservation where unemployment hovers around 50 percent.

The plan — the largest-ever economic development partnership for the Navajos — has prompted fierce debate pitting that economic windfall against environmental concerns and traditional culture on the 27,000-square-mile reservation, rich with natural gas, uranium and low-sulfur coal.

Some Navajos believe they are inseparable from Mother Earth and Father Sky — stewards of the land who must live in harmony with the natural world. There are no Navajo words to describe the complexities of power plants; to many elders, they are big stoves that produce electricity, the emissions wild spirits capable of harm.

"You treat your mother with great respect and love," said Harry Walters, a historian and cultural anthropologist at Dine College in Tsaile, Ariz. "You don't give your mother bad food, you don't take your mother to a place where there is bad air, you don't let her drink dirty water."

Gilmore grew up tending goats on a homestead on the reservation, and recalls waist-high grass teeming with tiny ground lizards before the coal burning started 44 years ago. While the land is bare now, it would be obliterated by an advancing strip mine that would be tapped for the new plant.

"Sometimes she cries for it when she's alone, for the land and the destruction," says her daughter, Bonnie Wethington.

Walters said tribal leaders need only consider the legacy of uranium mining booms in the 1950s and 1970s, which brought cancer, lung disease and death to the Navajos — to know that Mother Earth will retaliate for coal digging and burning.

Others, however, see a gift in their land's fortune of low-sulfur but high-ash and medium-BTU coal. By various estimates the coal reserve would last a century or more of stepped-up burning.

"The creator blessed us with this land, where there is an abundance of natural resources," said Lucinda Bennalley, president of the Nenahnezad Chapter, one of 110 such tribal chapters, or local governing entities.

Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr., a staunch supporter of the project, says critics should "stop picking on the little Navajo" when countries like India and China are commissioning a new coal plant practically every week.

The debate over Desert Rock comes at a time when leaders in Congress and a number of states have begun questioning coal burning, and the volume of greenhouse gases it churns out.

The project's backers, a private equity group, are trying to build ahead of a possible regulation by Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency or states to limit carbon dioxide emissions, produced in abundance by coal burning that takes most of the blame for heating up the planet.

The Navajo Nation picked Houston-based Sithe Global Power, which is 80 percent owned by New York-based Blackstone Group, to build what amounts to a "merchant" plant for hire or sale. Blackstone executives say customers won't be hard to find — Phoenix or Las Vegas is the most likely consumer — among hard-pressed utilities in the booming Southwest.

Because of industry-wide improvements in pollutant-capturing technology over the years, Desert Rock's emissions would be as little as a fifth of the reservation's Four Corners Power Plant to the north. Four Corners, a 2,000-megawatt plant co-owned and operated by Arizona Public Service, routinely ranks No. 1 on dirty-power lists compiled by watchdog groups from emissions reports to the EPA.

But Desert Rock would hardly be a pollution slouch, despite new emissions technology.

Every year, according to figures compiled by the EPA, the station would pump out 6,644 tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which are components of acid rain; 5,529 tons of carbon monoxide; 570 tons of lung-busting particulate matter and 166 tons of smog-forming volatile organic compounds, plus trace amounts of lead and mercury.

The EPA has yet to approve an air-quality permit, which Sithe Global first applied for in 2004. Sithe and the Navajo Nation's Dine Power Authority sued March 18 over the agency's delay, claiming the tribe is losing $5 million in tax revenue for every month the permit is held up. The Bureau of Indian Affairs already has signed off on a lease.

Nathan Plagens, vice president of Sithe subsidiary Desert Rock Energy Co., believes the risk of more stringent carbon regulation will "work itself out" in a way that won't derail Desert Rock. But he said the project is stalled because it's seen as politically incorrect.

"It's all about politics. We've met all of the requirements, done all of the work, and yet we're still waiting," said Christopher Deschene, an attorney for the Dine Power Authority, the tribe's partner in the project. "This is our backyard. We can handle this."

The EPA says it was initially delayed by climate-modeling uncertainties for a region that includes several national parks, and then by nearly 1,000 mostly negative comments posted on the agency's Web site. Air-permit technicians say they have a duty to answer each of the comments.

Added to the debate is a recent analysis of government temperature data that shows the interior American West is heating up at twice the global rate.

"We think we're doing our job as best we can — the good technical work that we are required to do," said Colleen McKaughan, a Southwest region deputy air-division director for the EPA. She declined to provide a timeline for action.

Environmental groups have vowed to keep fighting any EPA permit.

"There no such thing as clean coal," said Theodore Spencer, a climate policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Coal power is pretty much the dirtiest power there is, and that plant would do nothing to address global warming emissions."

__

On the Net:

Desert Rock Energy Co.: http://www.desertrockenergy.com/
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24728255/

By Bill Donovan
Special to the Times
WINDOW ROCK, May 15, 2008

The long-proposed Navajo-Gallup Pipeline is one step closer to becoming more than plans on paper.

The Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System Authorization Act passed the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on May 7 and is now headed to the full Senate for a vote.

The legislation reflects a 2005 agreement between the state of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation, which needs congressional approval.

The agreement allocates approximately 600,000 acre-feet of water per year to the Navajo Nation for agricultural, municipal, industrial, domestic and stock watering purposes.

It also authorizes federal funding for the Navajo-Gallup Pipeline project and various water conservation projects in the San Juan basin.

Maria Najera, an aide to Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said it was unopposed in the committee. Bingaman, who chairs the committee, and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., wrote the bill and are its chief sponsors.

She added that the bill does not provide funding for the pipeline but only authorizes it. The Senate must allocate funds, probably as part of the federal budget process or in a separate appropriations bill, in order for work on the pipeline to start.

The pipeline, projected to cost between $800 million and $1.2 billion, would originate near Farmington and transport water 90 miles to Gallup. The project would include spur lines to serve chapters in the Eastern Agency.

Posted: May 09, 2008
by: Jerry Reynolds / Indian Country Today
WASHINGTON - These are strange days in the energy industry. For the first three months of the year, industry leader Exxon Mobil Corp. has reported the second-highest quarterly profit in American history: $10.89 billion.

But the financial markets didn't like it, as earnings underperformed analyst expectations by about half a billion. And shareholders, led by the heirs of founder John D. Rockefeller himself, warned that the company won't compete in the future if it doesn't respond to the demand for ''green'' energy brought on by global warming.

In this business climate, with the promulgation of final rules implementing tribal energy resource agreements, tribes are expected to become prosperous contributors, in the long run, to the national energy supply. The Interior Department's Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development is offering the data, technical expertise and financial resources for them to get started. A healthy handful of tribes have already turned the corner into energy prosperity; others are poised to move quickly once federal agencies come across with long-awaited permits, licenses and approvals for ''green'' energy innovations.

But in the short term, as the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs heard May 1, it would be a strange industry indeed if tribes could rely on accurate information, timely licensing and respect for experimentation.

A BIA inventory of Crow net mineral acres initially missed 50,000 such acres with an approximate value of a quarter of a million dollars, discovered only by the tribe's oil and gas committee and an energy partner, according to Crow Chairman Carl Venne. In a similar example, he said, the Bureau of Land Management turned over abandoned gas wells to the surface owner, only to determine that the mineral rights (the reason for the exhausted wells) belonged to the Crow Nation.

Multiple tax jurisdictions, overlapping regulatory frameworks, and federal fees that spike suddenly to make up for shortfalls in federal appropriations all serve to chase away business partners, Venne said.

At the Navajo Nation, one of Indian country's most experienced energy-producing tribes, the Desert Rock Energy Project is poised to test the effectiveness of carbon capture and sequestration in a ''cleaner'' approach to coal-fired power. But according to Dine' Power Authority General Manager Steven C. Begay, the project is still in the throes of a permitting process that has been extended from the statutory 18 months to four years.

''Until the [clean air construction process] permit has been issued, it will not be possible to complete negotiations on [all-important] power purchase agreements or make progress on obtaining financing for the project. Further delay costs the Navajo Nation approximately 5 million desperately needed dollars every month.''

If the Navajo are being penalized for their forward thinking in the energy field, Alaska Natives are being parted from their rural subsistence cultures by the status quo. Julie Kitka, president of the Alaska Confederation of Natives, warned the committee of ''a full-blown economic crisis of energy costs in rural Alaska's 230-plus Native villages.''

The dramatic surge in energy costs threatens to erase the economic gains of recent decades in rural Alaska, she said, and to eradicate Native culture in some parts as villagers flee to urban settings for their economic opportunities and more manageable energy costs.

Kitka said that Alaska's enormous energy producing potential, especially regarding alternative energy, take a world of complex, frustrating and expensive translation to practicality before they become operational.

All the same, Robert Middleton of Interior's Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development emphasized potential - 15 million acres of undeveloped energy and mineral resources on individual Indian and tribal lands, 5 billion barrels of oil, 37 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 53 billion tons of coal recoverable with current technologies.

But with even the Rockefeller heirs calling for ''green'' energy, Indian country's wind energy potential continues in the forefront of attention. Site-specific analysis by IEED of all trust lands has identified 77 reservations that meet all the measures of wind energy potential, Middleton said.

''Based on this analysis, we intend to develop an Indian Wind Atlas ... to attract potential investors and developers for commercial-scale wind development projects on Indian lands. IEED will create a map for each reservation that features publicly available wind data, transmission lines, and a digital elevation model, along with some general information about the tribe[s] as well as contact information. The Wind Atlas will serve as a marketing tool that can be displayed at conferences. Each of the 77 reservations will be offered the opportunity to be included in the Indian Land Wind Atlas.''

By Cornelia de Bruin The Daily Times
Article Launched: 05/03/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT


NEW YORK CITY — Representatives of Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment met earlier this week with the upper management of Sithe Global at the company's corporate offices in New York City.
Sithe Global is the company partnering with the Diné Power Authority, a business enterprise the Navajo tribal government formed to build and operate Desert Rock Power Plant. The 1,500 megawatt coal-burning plant proposed for Burnham on the Navajo Nation is backed financially by The Blackstone Group, which holds an 80 percent ownership stake in Sithe Global LLC.

Diné CARE participants were Anna Frazier, coordinator; Earl Tulley, vice president; and Lori Goodman, treasurer. The trio met with Bruce Wrobel, Sithe Global chairman and chief executive officer; and Thomas DeLeo, chief operating officer.

Global warming vs. cumulative effects

"They had no idea that any Navajo people opposed the plant," said Dailan J. Long, community organizer for Diné CARE. "They were prepared to talk about global warming and climate change issues, but we took the conversation to the cumulative effects the plant would have on us."

The meeting began Wednesday, but Sithe asked it be extended into a Thursday session.

Diné CARE also drew attention to the increase in construction costs of building Desert Rock since Sithe and the Diné Power Authority first proposed it in December 2003 to present, and the amount of carbon dioxide the plant would emit.

Sithe said the plant will emit about 10.9 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, but points out CO2 is not federally regulated as a pollutant.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson released an Executive Order in June 2005 requiring greenhouse gas emissions in New Mexico — which include CO2 — to be reported.

"EPA has made no effort to initiate regulations or programs to enforce this new authority that will help combat climate change," Richardson said in November 2007. "Our state will continue to take the lead in addressing global climate change."

Richardson initially supported Desert Rock, but changed his mind later.

"We presented Sithe with our alternative energy plan," Long said, referring to a document released in mid-January that contrasts the development of coal-fired power plants to the Navajo people's Fundamental Laws, which direct them to live in harmony with their environment and its inhabitants. "We gave them the renewables document and showed them we're doing the homework."

Long described the meeting as "very successful," noting it resulted in a commitment from Sithe to meet with Diné CARE in Burnham at an unspecified date.

"We will continue the dialogue," he said.

Sithe's CEO gives his assessment

Sithe Global Chairman and CEO Bruce Wrobel does not remember saying he did not know some Navajos opposed the Desert Rock Power Plant.

"I'm very aware of the Navajos in opposition to it — we get copies of all the comments," Wrobel said. "Over the course of two days, several hours, we had a very good conversation and arrived at a broad understanding of both sides, both points of view."

Wrobel said he has to rely on his discussions with Navajo elected officials because the reservation is so big and so diverse that he has to make the assumption that they speak for the people.

"Elections could make a difference; the Democrats may retake the White House, but unless we can meet with a couple hundred thousand people it's hard to understand what the consensus is," he said.

Wrobel expressed frustration that Desert Rock Power Plant is targeted for attack "when it is the cleanest, not the dirtiest."

"If ever there was a coal plant that makes sense to build, Desert Rock is it because as a mine-mouth plant, the additional transportation costs and dust issues do not exist," he said. "It will be the cleanest plant in the United States."

The plant remains in a waiting game because of EPA's continued studying of comment and supporting documents.

Sithe Global is committed to creating renewable energy, Wrobel said, but is constrained by a lack of subsidies offered for the energy and existing "bottlenecks" in obtaining wind turbines and solar panels.

"All those bottlenecks create impediments for the creation of renewable energy," he said. "We will continue the dialogue. I've been there a couple times and will continue to do so. Even if we continue to agree to disagree, we will still get together over coffee."

It's about the health of the people

Tulley, Diné CARE vice president, felt the group reached a mutual understanding based on Diné's speaking for the health of its people, and Sithe's inclination to "turn a buck."

"I'm pretty confident there will be cultural sensitivity workshops," he said. "We have an agenda; industry goes into destitute areas and we pick up the pieces. We believe corporations are interested in the financial health of the corporation, but we want to campaign for the health of people — it's a wealth and health issue."

Ninety-nine percent of Navajo tribal members who spoke about effects of the plant at a series of public hearings held by the Environmental Protection Agency opposed its being built. EPA continues to process comments and statements it received, and has not issued the Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit necessary for the plant's operation.

The federal agency's lack of action resulted in the filing of a lawsuit through United States District Court in Houston March 18 by Desert Rock Energy Company, LLC and the Diné Power Authority.

EPA will not comment on its delayed action other than to cite the approximately 1,000 comments sent to it during the hearing and comment process that ended in November 2006, according to Margot Perez-Sullivan, an EPA spokeswoman.

The proposed plant also needs an Environmental Impact Statement before it can begin construction.

Sithe's selling points for Desert Rock

Proponents of the plant cite the importance of economic development to the Navajo Nation and the Nation's overwhelming poverty and substandard living conditions.

They draw attention to the average of 1,000 jobs during the four-year construction period, the 200 full-time operating jobs, direct and indirect annual construction-period payroll of about $200 million and $20 million operation payroll.

"The Desert Rock Project is committed to providing over $5 million to impacted Navajo chapters for capital improvements to chapter houses, and senior centers, as well as scholarships and job training," information from Sithe Global states.

The proposed plant is estimated to contribute 17 percent of the new power generation that will be required to serve projected population growth in the Arizona, New Mexico and southern Nevada region by 2015.

Cornelia de Bruin: cdebruin@daily-times.com

NPR Four Corners Public Radio - Victor Locke
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/ksut/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1269972

By John Christian Hopkins
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — President Joe Shirley Jr.’s idea to reduce the Navajo council from 88 members to 24 is seen as retaliation by some.

“Initially, as I read the press release on the reduction, I thought it is just a retaliation against the council, the current sitting council, for overrides,” Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan said.

It is also odd that it took Shirley halfway through his second term to “find his platform and begin working on it, six years after coming into the office,” Morgan added.

In a release issued by his press officer, George Hardeen, Shirley said Navajo people expressed their desire to see the Council reduced to 24 members in a 2000 tribal referendum. The president believes the people still support it, and when he campaigned for re-election, he said he would “pursue it diligently” in his second term.

In a scathing open letter to the president, Judiciary Committee Chairman Kee Allen Begay questioned the initiative and whether it would benefit the Navajo Nation.

“YOU are severely misleading our Navajo people of your justifications and it is very obvious that it’s just another tactic of retaliation against the Legislative Branch!” Begay wrote. “As I always said about you and your staff, you put your oppression in full throttle ... when it comes to putting down the Navajo Nation Council.”

Reduction of Council will obviously create a situation where communication with local residents — at the local level, chapters — suffers, Morgan said.

A reduction in the number of council delegates “would greatly improve government efficiency and effectiveness, balance power between the legislative and executive branches of Navajo government, significantly reduce micro-management by Council oversight committees, return the legislative branch to its intended policy-making function and vastly cut the bloated cost of the Council’s operations and expenses,” Shirley’s release stated.

But Morgan thinks the president’s plan would increase costs, and it appears undemocratic.

“Decisions would be made omitting the ‘people’, that would not be a democracy, but rather a dictatorship operation,” Morgan said. “The hasty move is to save money, I suppose; but it would limit services to the people, put a limitation on everything to everyone.

“It defeats the intent of any government services. The government’s expectation is to deliver services to all members of the nation,” the speaker added.

Morgan also was concerned that Shirley’s “cost-cutting” only seemed to be cutting into the legislative branch.
“What are the executive and judicial branches contributing to this splendid idea?” Morgan wondered. “Trying to make changes in a single branch is not a ‘government reform’, but a ‘government deform’.”

Delegate LoRenzo Bates, chairman of the Budget & Finance Committee, said he was concerned with the president’s plan because no feasibility study was done, no estimate of what its impact would be.

Begay said the president should look at his own executive branch appointees, such as division directors, if he wants to find out why the needs of the Nation are not being met.
“Which of your corrupt programs or divisions do I need to point out to you, that you are NOT effectively addressing or making corrections in your own programs, but instead blaming the Navajo Nation Council (for) your unsettling issues?” Begay wrote.

Begay also took the president to task for his comments that the current 88 delegates waste the tribe’s money.

“Is it really a wasteful spending of our 401K savings and benefits? Have you ever put into consideration that the Navajo Nation Council use their own vehicles when conducting their duties; unlike your executive branch, which has a fleet of gas guzzling SUV’s. And you or your staff doesn’t pay a penny for the wear and tear of these vehicles or even pay for the gas! And not to mention insurances!

“Now tell me who is taking advantage of the free-loading, utilizing the Navajo people’s money? Now compare the Navajo Nation Council’s supposedly wasteful spending with your Executive Branch salaries? What’s the average salary of your top political appointees? I believe its $80,000 or more (including your press officer getting paid much higher just to jet out negative information),” Begay wrote. “And your staff assistants also average around $55,000 or more just to pick up checks at the cashiers or just drive around (Window Rock)!”

“I also believe they also have deferred compensation, 401K’s and other benefits. Now average out your staff salaries and the NNC stipends, tell me which drawing out more,” Begay added.

Shirley’s initiative also pointed out how the council routinely waives the law when making appropriations.

But the president does that when its convenient, Begay said. He said laws were waived for the casino efforts, Desert Rock and paying litigation costs, Begay pointed out.
Begay also questioned the president’s open door policy, and suggested he needed to follow the Navajo concept of K’e.

“Why is it that you pose questions or just spill your dirty laundry for the whole world to see? Why is it that your office is just smudging our Great Navajo Nation (People) and Our Navajo Nation sovereignty with endless negative issues and remarks?” Begay wrote. “I will be convinced to support your effort should you, Mr. President Shirley, justify your initiative decisively and accurately ... We can tackle these issues only if we could talk and deliberate on it in our own Navajo language and Navajo thinking.”

On Tuesday, Shirley’s office submitted ballot language to the Navajo Nation Election Administration on two initiative questions, reducing council’s size and giving the president a line-item veto.

Now, an estimated 16,000 petitions signatures must be gathered and certified for the initiative measures to be included on the 2008 general election ballot.

Shirley’s goal is to obtain as many as 25,000 signatures within 90 days to ensure that the measure makes on to the ballot. Under tribal law, he has six months to gather the needed signatures.

If voters approved Shirley’s initiative, it could take effect during the 2010 elections.

Delegates must introduce legislation on the council floor, so it remains to be seen where Shirley’s initiative will go.
“Just because the president makes a huge intimidating move, it doesn’t necessarily mean the legislators will accept,” Morgan said. “That’s democracy.”

John Christian Hopkins can be reached at Hopkins1960@hotmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT


Thursday, May 01, 2008 Deswood Tome
202-682-7390 or 202-607-5507 (wireless)




Diné Power Authority Outlines Projects at
Senate Hearing on Indian Energy


WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs heard testimony today on Indian Energy Development at an oversight hearing.


“Diné Power Authority is the Navajo Nation entity responsible for utility-scale power generation and transmission development on Navajo lands,” said Steve Begay, general manager for DPA.


The Senate Committee held the hearing to hear from tribes to focus on Title V of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and on the implementation of the act. The Navajo Nation used the forum today to list the various projects and update the Committee on needs for more energy development.


“Our first major project is the Navajo Transmission project,” said Begay, referring to a 469 mile high voltage transmission line connecting the generation-rich Four Corners region of the desert southwest. “This permitted project is the only high-voltage system of its size and length that is ready for construction in the United States today.”


Begay was one of four tribal representatives who was invited to testify before the Committee.


“Our second major project is the Desert Rock Energy project, a $3.4 billion mine-mouth, coal-fired power plant that would generate up to 1,500 megawatt located on the Navajo Nation,” said Begay. “Desert Rock would have the lowest regulated emissions of any pulverized coal-fired plant in the United States.”


Begay emphasized the revenue that the proposed energy plant would bring to the Navajo Nation. At $50 million per year for the first year of operation Desert Rock would generate an estimated $1.5 billion to the Navajo treasury in the first 30 years.


During the hearing Begay cited the delay in the issuance of the air quality permit for Desert Rock as an obstacle that the Navajo Nation is encountering with a federal agency. The permit is pending review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.


Begay also renewed the need for Congress to assist in funding the carbon capture and sequestration portion of the coal-fired plant. “The addition of the Carbon Capture and Sequestration to the new generation of clean coal plants that is represented by Desert Rock stands to bring the highest return on this ‘environmental investment’ as opposed to retrofitting older, less efficient coal plants,” Begay said.


“Our third major project is the Diné Wind Project, one of the largest wind generation systems under development in the U.S. today,” said Begay. “In 2006, DPA began a joint venture with Citizens Energy Corporation because of their strong commitment to working with Native communities.”


Senate Indian Affairs Committee Vice Chair Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, thanked Begay for testifying. “I want to commend the Navajo Nation for pursuing the Diné Wind farm project.”


Chairman Dorgan said that the Senate Committee staff will travel to the various tribes to hold round table discussions on development and obstacles that tribes face.


# # #

By Chee Brossy
Navajo Times

WINDOW ROCK, May 1, 2008

On March 27, the Navajo Nation, through Diné Power Authority and the president's office, announced an agreement in principle with a nonprofit Boston energy firm to develop wind power on the reservation. Several locations are under consideration.

One of those locations is Gray Mountain, near Cameron, Ariz. Studies have identified the area to be one of the best locations for developing wind power in Arizona.

The power would be generated by giant wind turbines - about 20 stories high - placed strategically on a ridge or other site where conditions favor steady winds.

The agreement with Citizens Energy is non-binding, according to a news release from the president's office.

But the community of Cameron, whose chapter includes Gray Mountain, wants to be included in any development and negotiations involving their land base, said Rayola Werito, chapter manager.

So far, communication with Window Rock has been spotty, while a private company from Oklahoma has worked hard to build bridges with the chapter.

"We weren't looking for a developer or any studies to be done," Werito said. "It started with (the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority) coming in with an anemometer to study the wind. Then DPA came in with Citizens Energy, but then it didn't move on from there, and DPA never came back."

Then the chapter was contacted by the Oklahoma-based Independent Power Project, which wanted to perform more studies and develop wind power in cooperation with the chapter.

"(Independent Power Project) came to the chapter and did many presentations," Werito said. "And the community really supported their project. They come back to the chapter on a monthly basis to do workshops, and report to the community on the feasibility studies. They have shown more concern for the community."

Currently the chapter's only agreement with IPP is for a feasibility study of the wind energy potential on Gray Mountain. This includes setting up towers with anemometers - devices that measure wind power - to determine if and where wind turbines could be placed.

Across the United States, renewable energy is a rapidly growing market and wind energy is shaping up to be a major source.

Diné Power Authority officials have been hesitant to make any agreements with outside companies for renewable energy on the reservation and continues to see it as a marginal player next to conventional sources such as coal-fired power plants.

The agreement with Citizens is the first time DPA has signaled its interest in pursuing a renewable energy project, at least to the public.

Begay characterized DPA's cautious approach as linked to developing technology in the renewable energy industry.

"It's a changing industry," he said. "Some players may be there today but not tomorrow. It's entering a maturing phase, but it's still high-cost power - it hasn't hit that point where it is low cost."

DPA is looking to add renewable energy to its energy portfolio, Begay said, but any wind energy projects are still in the initial planning stages.

"Plans have been under way for a couple of years to get the permission to use the land and abide by the Land Department's procedures for the wind project," he said.

Begay also stressed that any negotiations are in the initial stages, along the lines of feasibility studies. And no site has been chosen as a location for the wind project.

But one thing the community of Cameron would like to see is more one-on-one talks with tribal agencies dealing with renewable energy development.

"We don't want what happened at Desert Rock to happen here," said Werito, referring to the controversial coal-fired power plant proposal backed by DPA. "We want the community to be involved. We do know that this will benefit not just Cameron, but the entire Navajo Nation. We're looking forward to renewable energy."

The chapter brought its concerns to a meeting with DPA on April 8.

In an interview after the meeting, Begay said the chapter will have to "work with the central systems" of the tribal government, such as DPA and the Renewable Energy Task Force, a part of the executive branch.

"We will continue to work with them but we will also follow the Navajo Nation laws, the laws of the central government," Begay said.

The chapter is also cautious in its negotiations with IPP. Chapter President Teddy Bedonie said it is apprehensive about the number of turbines that IPP has suggested Gray Mountain can hold - IPP has said possibly 200 of the giant structures could be placed on the mountain for energy production.

"The scenery around the Little Colorado and the Grand Canyon is very important to us," Bedonie said. "We don't want to pollute Gray Mountain with wind turbines."

In a related issue, chapter officials brought up concerns about existing transmission lines that run through the chapter. Werito noted that the chapter has seen no revenue from the lines, which carry power from the Navajo Generating Station at Page to Phoenix and other cities.

"The community is not benefiting from it, so concerns came up," she said. "So the people (of Cameron) are cautious about the projects we let into the community."

Desert Rock foes go to top

Desert Rock opponents took the fight to New York City this week. Several Navajo Nation tribal members, who will be impacted by the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant, met this week with top officials with Sithe Global Power, the power plant’s proponent, and the Blackstone Group, which owns an 80 percent financial stake in Desert Rock.

On April 30, members from the Navajo grassroots group, Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment, sat down with Bruce Wrobel, Sithe’s chairman and CEO, and David Foley, senior managing director of the Blackstone Group, in New York. During the meeting, they urged the executives to reconsider the massive power plant, which is proposed for Navajo Nation land just southwest of Farmington. They advocated instead for clean energy options for the reservation, which is rich in both wind and sun resources.

“Desert Rock is a bad financial risk for investors and bad for Navajo health and prosperity,” said Dailan Long, community grassroots organizer for Diné CARE.

Long added that while the proponents claim Desert Rock will generate $50 million in tribal revenues per year for the Navajo Nation, the plant could actually come at a higher price. If it is built, Long said the Navajos could feel the financial impact of impending global warming legislation, which could mean a carbon tax of between $63.5 million and $292.1 million dollars per year, according to his calculations. Diné CARE is arguing instead in favor of the Navajo Nation’s vast renewable energy resources, which will be free of carbon costs.

“The Navajo Nation contains valuable, untapped solar and wind resources which could be a wise investment for the tribe and Blackstone,” said Lori Goodman of Diné CARE. “Solar and wind development is common sense for the Diné.”

Long and others also contended that Navajos will face forced relocation by the proposed expansion of the existing BHP Billiton Navajo coal mine that would fuel Desert Rock. They added that additional pollution will further degrade the health of local Navajo communities already impacted by two nearby coal-fired power plants and other industrial facilities. Both the San Juan Generating Station and the Four Corners Power Plant sit within 25 miles of the proposed Desert Rock facility.

“There is an existing legacy of energy exploitation in Navajo communities where coal, natural gas, and oil are found under our homes and communities,” said Long. “Desert Rock plans to export its power to large cities in Nevada and southern Arizona and leave us with the pollution.”

Diné CARE was invited to New York to speak at the United Nations Seventh Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples on April 29. During the forum, they detailed the impacts of living in a region being dramatically affected by intensive energy development. They also presented their economic study, “Economic and Energy Alternatives to the Desert Rock Energy Project,” which found that wind and concentrating solar power would deliver more jobs, less financial risk and less pollution to the Navajo Nation.

By Chee Brossy
Navajo Times
WINDOW ROCK, May 1, 2008

On March 27, the Navajo Nation, through Diné Power Authority and the president's office, announced an agreement in principle with a nonprofit Boston energy firm to develop wind power on the reservation. Several locations are under consideration.

One of those locations is Gray Mountain, near Cameron, Ariz. Studies have identified the area to be one of the best locations for developing wind power in Arizona.

The power would be generated by giant wind turbines - about 20 stories high - placed strategically on a ridge or other site where conditions favor steady winds.

The agreement with Citizens Energy is non-binding, according to a news release from the president's office.

But the community of Cameron, whose chapter includes Gray Mountain, wants to be included in any development and negotiations involving their land base, said Rayola Werito, chapter manager.

So far, communication with Window Rock has been spotty, while a private company from Oklahoma has worked hard to build bridges with the chapter.

"We weren't looking for a developer or any studies to be done," Werito said. "It started with (the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority) coming in with an anemometer to study the wind. Then DPA came in with Citizens Energy, but then it didn't move on from there, and DPA never came back."

Then the chapter was contacted by the Oklahoma-based Independent Power Project, which wanted to perform more studies and develop wind power in cooperation with the chapter.
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"(Independent Power Project) came to the chapter and did many presentations," Werito said. "And the community really supported their project. They come back to the chapter on a monthly basis to do workshops, and report to the community on the feasibility studies. They have shown more concern for the community."

Currently the chapter's only agreement with IPP is for a feasibility study of the wind energy potential on Gray Mountain. This includes setting up towers with anemometers - devices that measure wind power - to determine if and where wind turbines could be placed.

Across the United States, renewable energy is a rapidly growing market and wind energy is shaping up to be a major source.

Diné Power Authority officials have been hesitant to make any agreements with outside companies for renewable energy on the reservation and continues to see it as a marginal player next to conventional sources such as coal-fired power plants.

The agreement with Citizens is the first time DPA has signaled its interest in pursuing a renewable energy project, at least to the public.

Begay characterized DPA's cautious approach as linked to developing technology in the renewable energy industry.

"It's a changing industry," he said. "Some players may be there today but not tomorrow. It's entering a maturing phase, but it's still high-cost power - it hasn't hit that point where it is low cost."

DPA is looking to add renewable energy to its energy portfolio, Begay said, but any wind energy projects are still in the initial planning stages.

"Plans have been under way for a couple of years to get the permission to use the land and abide by the Land Department's procedures for the wind project," he said.

Begay also stressed that any negotiations are in the initial stages, along the lines of feasibility studies. And no site has been chosen as a location for the wind project.

But one thing the community of Cameron would like to see is more one-on-one talks with tribal agencies dealing with renewable energy development.

"We don't want what happened at Desert Rock to happen here," said Werito, referring to the controversial coal-fired power plant proposal backed by DPA. "We want the community to be involved. We do know that this will benefit not just Cameron, but the entire Navajo Nation. We're looking forward to renewable energy."

The chapter brought its concerns to a meeting with DPA on April 8.

In an interview after the meeting, Begay said the chapter will have to "work with the central systems" of the tribal government, such as DPA and the Renewable Energy Task Force, a part of the executive branch.

"We will continue to work with them but we will also follow the Navajo Nation laws, the laws of the central government," Begay said.

The chapter is also cautious in its negotiations with IPP. Chapter President Teddy Bedonie said it is apprehensive about the number of turbines that IPP has suggested Gray Mountain can hold - IPP has said possibly 200 of the giant structures could be placed on the mountain for energy production.

"The scenery around the Little Colorado and the Grand Canyon is very important to us," Bedonie said. "We don't want to pollute Gray Mountain with wind turbines."

In a related issue, chapter officials brought up concerns about existing transmission lines that run through the chapter. Werito noted that the chapter has seen no revenue from the lines, which carry power from the Navajo Generating Station at Page to Phoenix and other cities.

"The community is not benefiting from it, so concerns came up," she said. "So the people (of Cameron) are cautious about the projects we let into the community."