Monique La Chappa: Renewable energy benefits Indian Country

Monday, February 14, 2011  

"As American Indian people, the Campo Kumeyaay Nation see ourselves as caretakers of the Earth and know we have a responsibility to help protect the environment and our sacred resources. To this end, we have built a successful wind farm on our east San Diego County reservation, which generates enough power for about 30,000 homes and saves approximately 110,000 tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions. We are currently working in partnership with Invenergy LLC and San Diego Gas & Electric to build another wind farm on our reservation that is projected to produce an additional 160 megawatts of energy.

This new wind project will create local jobs and bring revenue to the tribe and to the East County’s rural economy. The addition of another wind farm will enable our tribe to diversify our business investments and provide new and expanded programs and services for Campo people, such as health care, education, job training and youth leadership development. And the creation of green jobs and related business activity will strengthen the overall economy in the San Diego region.

Not only is the development of renewable resources responsible and wise for American Indians, it is an essential part of meeting California’s aggressive climate change and renewable energy laws. One part of that is California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard Program, which requires utilities to provide 20 percent of their power through renewable resources. Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature are expected to build on this program by passing new legislation this year to require utilities to reach 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020."

Get the Story:
Monique La Chappa: Clean, renewable wind energy benefits all (The San Diego Union-Tribune 2/13)