Opinion

Letters: For and against Navajo Nation power plant

Friday, July 27, 2007

Letters for and against the Navajo Nation's proposed power plant near Shiprock, New Mexico.

Rodney Zubrod: "I wish to thank our community for their support of the Desert Rock Project during the BIA EIS Public Hearings lately. Overwhelmingly, few negative comments were heard regarding the Desert Rock EIS, which was the only reason for the public hearings.

Instead, the meetings were filled with negative emotional comments that had little to nothing to do with the contents of the EIS. Attendee after attendee was applauded when they departed the podium having exclaimed negative comments to the crowd, comments that had nothing to do with the intent of the meeting. Those with positive comments were made to feel not welcome. It was all orchestrated by well-organized groups that seemed to have their own purpose. What the purpose was, we may never know.
• Letter: Desert Rock plant gets strong support (The Farmigton Daily Times 7/27)

Isabella Johnson: "In 1887, the Department of Interior made equally generous promises. A large trust was to pay Navajos based on royalties from gas, oil and timber from allotted land. From day one, the tribe was short-changed. Over the years, debt owed to the tribe only increased. When the tribe complained, they were told that the department's computers broke down, so the records were lost forever.

In 1996, Elouise Cobell of the Blackfoot Reservation took the Interior Department to court, suing for the payment of debt owed to the tribes. For 10 years, Elouise Cobell fought a valiant fight all the way to the Supreme Court, and lost. The tribe is still unpaid, and their records have been buried."
• Letter: Be careful not to repeat the past (The Farmigton Daily Times 7/27)

Norman Joe: "Where have all our teachings gone? Once our youth were taught to respect themselves, their elders, their people, and our Mother Earth. With the leaders we have elected to represent our tribe, no wonder our reservation faces all the problems we see daily.

They are too much into worshiping money, the root of all evil. They turn a deaf ear to the cries for help from their people who elected them. They turn their back on the needs of their elders who did not do a good job of teaching them Navajo culture and tradition.

About the so-called proposed Desert Rock Power Plant, why was it called proposed' when Joe Shirley's mind was made up long ago? No one is going to change his mind; he turned a deaf ear to the people in the northern and eastern agency who complained of already ailing health due to the other sources of pollution."
• Letter: Navajo people must speak up (The Farmigton Daily Times 7/26)

Relevant Links:
Desert Rock Clean Air Act Proposed PSD Permit - http://www.epa.gov/region09/air/permit
Desert Rock Energy Project, BIA site - http://www.desertrockenergy.com
Desert Rock Energy Project, company site - http://www.desertrockenergyproject.com
Dine Citizens Against Ruining our Environment - http://dinecare.indigenousnative.org