April 28, 2009- The New Mexico Independent has reported that our new good friends at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdrew the air quality permit it issued last summer for the Desert Rock coal-fired power plant, which is slated to be built on the Navajo Nation in the Four Corners region just southwest of Farmington, New Mexico.
That is a major victory for indigenous communities in the area who have been fighting against dirty coal for HELLA long.
Unfortunately the President of the Navajo Nation, Joe Shirley was quoted as saying this was a major blow for the nation. “I have people dying every day because of poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, gangs, and the U.S. Government is not there to adequately fund the direct service programs that cater to these needs,” he said.
Kandi Mossett Campus Campaign Coordinator for the Indigenous Environmental Network says that the President of the Navajo Nation does not hold the opinion of the majority of the Navajo nation. "Yeah we need jobs but at what cost?.... Joe Shirley and his cronies are out for getting money by any means necessary. One third of the residents of the Navajo nation don't even have running water."
The Proposed Power Plant would not be used to energize the Navajo Nation or New Mexico but to power Phoenix and Las Vegas. Although the plant may have created some new jobs for the area it would not add up to the environmental degradation that the plant would cause to the surrounding area. New Mexico Environment Department Secretary, Ron Curry, recently stated, “Air emissions from Desert Rock would have single-handedly undone our state’s climate change initiatives,”
This story is to be continued but for now this is another major victory for Environmental Justice and Indigenous Rights movements.
Big shout outs and congratulations go to Black Mesa Water Coalition and the Indigenous Environmental Network for all their hard work advocating for the closure of dirty energy projects like the Desert Rock Power Plant. For more information check out ienearth.org and blackmesawatercoalition.org
0 comments:
Post a Comment