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American Indian Renewable Energy Resources

Possibly 10 percent of renewable energy resources in the U.S. are found in the 5 percent of American lands that are under tribal jurisdiction. Interest in the development of these resources, especially under tribal control, has expanded throughout Indian Country. As of 2011, many American Indians are ahead of "mainstream" U.S. society in the effort to transition away from fossil fuels.

  1. Reasons for Development

    • Native American nations have many compelling reasons to develop renewable energy resources. Climate change and pollutants from fossil fuel burning disproportionately harm Native American peoples, and green energy fits with their living traditions of environmental stewardship. According to the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy, or ICUP, ninety cents out of every dollar that American Indians spend on energy leave the reservation and never return. Many tribes consider renewable energy a promising way to counter the high rates of poverty and unemployment among Native Americans.

    Wind

    • ICUP estimates that wind power development on Great Plains tribal lands alone could bring electricity to 50 million homes, and the area has been dubbed the "Saudi Arabia" of wind power. In 2003, the Rosebud Sioux became the first Native American nation to own and operate their own utility-scale wind turbine. Numerous other nations in and outside the Great Plains have launched wind power enterprises, including the Aleuts, Blackfeet, Cherokee, Hopi, Navajo, Campo Kumeyaay, Yurok, Shoshone and Ojibway, or Chippewa.

    Solar

    • Many tribal lands receive large, steady amounts of sunlight. Although it has been more difficult and expensive than wind to develop for public-utility use, solar power has hardly escaped the attention of Native America. It has proved especially appealing to tribes with some relatively smaller-scale electricity needs that cannot be met feasibly through connection to existing power grids. The U.S. Department of Energy awarded its first tribal alternative energy grants in 1994 to the Ute Mountain Tribe, the Zuni Pueblo and the Hoopa Valley Tribe.

    Other Renewables

    • Native Americans have turned their attention to several other renewables. Although geothermal is an often too expensive and impractical energy source for utility plants, it can be harnessed to heat or cool individual homes or farm structures. Small-scale hydroelectric sources avoid most of the environmental and construction challenges of large dams. Although it creates some air pollution, biomass production, such as burning animal manure to yield methane, is far less polluting than fossil fuel combustion and is relatively inexpensive and readily available on reservations.

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