Editorial: Navajo energy project doomed from the start

Opinion

Monday, April 19, 2010

"It seemed like it was doomed from the start.

In 2006, early work at the planned site of the coal-fired Desert Rock Power

Plant brought out protestors from the nearby community of Burnham. Despite the added jobs the plant would bring to help reduce the Navajo Nation's stifling unemployment rate, these protestors did not want another coal power plant in the region polluting the skies.

Even back then, with a Republican president in office who supported coal power, it seemed doubtful that the plant would ever get built.

Now, it appears the coffin is finally getting nailed shut.

This was the year Desert Rock was supposed to begin operation, but instead they do not have an air permit from the federal government, and the company's planned operator, Houston-based Sithe Global, is pulling out of the coal marketplace. They've already shuttered plans for another coal plant in Pennsylvania, and converted plans for another in Nevada to natural gas plant.

Despite these monumental difficulties, the Navajo Nation government continues to show nothing less than complete support for the Desert Rock project, and it's difficult to understand why. No one gains anything by stretching out the Desert Rock saga, least of all the Navajo people who were going to be employed at the power plant."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Time for Desert Rock supporters to move on (The Farmington Daily Times 4/19)

Environmental Appeals Board Decision:
Desert Rock Energy Company, LLC (September 24, 2009)