Tribal energy drive touted
Shirley hopes proposal will bring development

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. proposed a new energy initiative this week at an Energy Development on Tribal Lands conference at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Shirley opened the conference, speaking before a group of energy experts, tribal leaders, government officials, attorneys, nonprofit groups, and financiers. The president said he is proposing a Native American Energy initiative to foster more development on tribal lands.

"The Navajo Nation, like most Native nations, has tremendous reserves of fossil and renewable resources," Shirley said, but lacks the financial resources necessary to tap those energy resources.

Retired Sen. J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana, founding partner of the Washington, D.C. law firm, Johnston and Associates, told Shirley, "You have my full support. We look forward to working with you in your new initiative."

Johnston said Native Americans represent 1 percent of the U.S. population but hold 10 percent of energy reserves. Undeveloped energy resources are even higher, he said.

Over the years, tribes have contributed enormously to energy development, including some $15.3 billion in oil, $10 billion for coal, and an estimated $8 billion for natural gas. However, tribes have been largely underpaid for development of those resources, as evidenced in lawsuits such as Cobell vs. Norton.

Shirley's Plan
Touting energy development as a means of tribal self-determination, Shirley detailed how the federal government would benefit from adopting his energy initiative.

Also making presentations at the $995-per-person conference were Dirk Straussfeld, executive vice president of Sithe Global Power LLC of Houston, and Steven C. Begay, general manager of Dine Power Authority.

Begay and Straussfeld spoke on the special working relationship and successful collaboration involved in developing the now $3+ billion Desert Rock Energy Project.Coal and WindWhile DPA and Sithe officials were in Washington, Frank Maisano, Sithe media liaison, was attending public hearings on the Desert Rock Draft Environmental Impact Statement in Farmington, Cortez and Durango.

Maisano said Wednesday evening that all meetings have been well-attended. "The environmentalists have been very aggressive at trying to rally people to come out," he said.

In Farmington there were 10 to 12 speakers on each side, pro and con, in the first half of the meeting, he said. "A lot of those people were labor folks who spoke strongly about the impact of the jobs."

Maisano said another presenter at the Washington conference was Roger Freeman, managing director of Energy Ventures, a Citizens Enterprises Corp., who is working with DPA to develop the Diné Wind Project.

"Apparently DPA is considering a wind project on the western part of the reservation with Citizens Wind, a Boston company," he said.

Energy Partners
Other speakers included program co-chair Douglas MacCourt of Ater Wynn in Portland, Ore. MacCourt is an outside legal counsel for DPA. MacCourt spoke Wednesday on considerations for ownership and operation of energy assets in Indian Country.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Steven Begay, chairman of the Navajo Nation Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, and Sandia National Laboratories' Sandra K. Begay-Campbell, program director of Sandia Tribal Energy Program, spoke on Livermore's American Indian Program, partnerships with tribes and Sandia to develop viable energy technologies based on solar, wind and geothermal resources.

Chris Clark-Deschene, partner for Schaff and Clark-Deschene LLC of Boulder, Colo., presented information on the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and its impact on tribes and non-tribal developers, energy corridors, and the Department of Energy and Department of the Interior Right-of-Way study.

Carl Artman, DOI assistant secretary who was in Window Rock this week, also spoke on assistance available from DOI for tribal energy development.

In addition to development and giving more insight into federal energy policy, the conference focused on exploring and evaluating energy resource potential for tribes and commercial enterprises.

Attending the conference with President Shirley was Navajo Nation Washington OfficePolicy Director Simon Boyce, who oversees energy-related and natural resources legislation forthe Navajo Nation.

Shirley also met with five U.S. senators at a Democratic Policy Committee meeting, where he asked the committee to reauthorize the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act, and the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.