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.