This is a specific provision of the Inflation Reduction Act! This legistation is a huge step in the right direction for clean energy for so many people, and I am so glad that a solid chunk of that is going directly to indigenous communities.
Yes- this is not a perfect piece of legislation by any means, but a step in the right direction. A big thing that I had heard is that even navigating federal paperwork is, well, work. Not all tribes are set up so that they can take on that effort in advance of something that is beneficial for them in the long run. I know there are some non profits that are looking to connect these tribes with resources to get them going to take advantage of these provisions, but it’s definitely an imperfect process.
So - I don’t know if every state handles it this way, but my state has a public service commission that has the authority to approve the big projects that utility companies engage in. In my state, my PSC makes their meetings available to watch online, and the public can show up in person, or call in to offer comments about utility matters.
I guess a utility here has an agreement with a farmer to build solar panels and a few wind turbines on their property, but to connect it to the grid, they had to run lines over other farmers lands.
These people were complaining that the power lines would cause cancer, that the solar panels would ‘leak’ and poison the land. That the concrete used in the construction footings would leech chemicals into the groundwater (these are farmers that use pesticides and fertilizers, as well as ranchers that have all manner of chemical and biological effluent running off their livestock).
Which is all to say. I agree completely. I think they are poor stewards of the land and let their political beliefs get in the way of using the land well. Being sold power by people who do use the land to generate power in environmentally friendly ways is just desserts.
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