Just Transtions Campaign

The Just Transition Campaign is an innovative plan to transition tribal economy, employment, and energy off fossil fuel extraction and onto a sustainable renewable energy path.

The Black Mesa Mine officially shut down on January 1st 2006 because of two acts:

1. Navajo and Hopi tribes both passed resolutions to end Peabody’s use of the Navajo Aquifer by 2005. MGS did not have an alternative method of transporting coal from Black Mesa Mine to the MGS;
2. The MGS had faced a 6-year Clean Air Act Consent Decree by environmental groups (Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Trust and the National Parks and Conservation Association) to install pollution control requirements by January 1, 2006 or face closure.

 

With the MGS closure, this became a bitter sweet situation for the Black Mesa region where on one hand it relieved the Navajo Aquifer from the wasteful use to slurry coal and on the other hand, the closure of the MGS and Black Mesa Pipeline meant the loss of 200+ mine working jobs at Black Mesa Mine and a reduction in Navajo and Hopi annual mine and water royalties.

In the spring of 2005, Grand Canyon Trust and Sierra Club shed light on the fact that the owners of MGS could potentially sell their sulfur dioxide allowances and make an additional profit, just from the closure of MGS. This did not sit well to a lot of the organizers and community members of the Black Mesa region who worked hard to protect the Navajo Aquifer. How could companies continue to financially benefit from all the years of pollution and the exploitation of water, land and people?

This catalyzed the formation the Just Transition Coalition (JTC) who is made up of Grand Canyon Trust, Black Mesa Water Coalition, Tonizohni Ani, Sierra Club and the Apollo Alliance. On January 11, 2006 the Just Transition Coalition submitted a motion to the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) who is the regulatory agent for Southern Cal Edison (SCE) requesting the SO2 allowances funds be reinvested in wind and solar development and particularly be beneficial for the Navajo and Hopi communities in Black Mesa. SCE is the majority owner (56%) of MGS.

The Just Transition Coalition submitting a motion to CPUC had no road map nor has the SO2 allowances ever been questioned by a coalition based in another state. The JTC base of action was advocating that reciprocity is overdue, largely by the Californians and companies who have reaped affordable electricity for over 30 years at the expense of the health of Black Mesa, people, land and water.

The strategy for the Just Transition work has been focusing on the communities of Black Mesa. And the approach has been a bottom up effort, where we see the Chapters and villages having rightful decision-making power in how economic development looks for them and their future. JTC has received about 13 Navajo Chapter resolutions supporting the concept of the JTC proposal which seeks funds to be reinvested in renewable energy by wind and solar and that will be highly beneficial to local chapters and villages.

 

Navajo Chapters and Hopi villages of the Black Mesa region know and acknowledge the historical inequalities associate with energy, coal mining, water use and transmission lines in their backyards where:

1. 80 percent of Navajo people still haul water daily to support their livelihood vs. most Americans can access water easily with the turn of a knob;
2. 50 percent of people on the Navajo and Hopi reservation do not have electricity vs. the rest of American can have electricity at a flip of a switch;
3. Most Black Mesa residents live by huge transmission lines that cross over the Navajo and Hopi reservations and or live by coal mining operations that have serious health effects vs. most Americans communities do not have to live by these industries;
4. 77 percent of Navajo Nation roads are unpaved, making even more difficult to travel during rain and snow conditions vs. urban cities have easy access to get from one place to another;
5. With the increase of gas prices Navajo and Hopi residents spend a lot of money on gas to just haul water 20-60 miles away from their residences, cutting into their small budget (Navajo median per capita income is $6,217) vs. an Arizona resident per capita is $21,000. The Bureau of Reclamation estimated in a 2004 study that the total economic cost to haul water on the Navajo reservation is about $113 per 1,000 gallons, or $37,000 for an acre-foot. A Phoenix homeowner pays about $5 a month for as much as 7,480 gallons.

 

According to the Navajo Nation's 2000-2001 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, the nation's unemployment rate is 44 percent, the median family income is $11,885, and the per capita income is $6,217. Over 56 percent of Navajos live below the poverty level, the highest poverty rate in the U.S., even among American Indians. At the same time, 68 percent of Navajo monies are spent in off-reservation communities. Of the 676 private employers, only 35 percent are Navajo-owned.

The realities of most residents that live on the Navajo and Hopi reservations go unnoticed to the majority American public eye. But as Indigenous Peoples that have survived hundreds of years of systematic oppression and the many assaults to our identity, we still continue to move forward in advocating for just and healthy lifestyles. It is our hope that given these historical and current facts the Just Transition efforts gain support by entities that have more influences to help make this a Just Transition.

 

 

 

The Just Transition Coalition (JTC) is an ad hoc committee comprised of the Apollo Alliance, Black Mesa Water Coalition, To’ Nizhoni Ani, Grand Canyon Trust, and the Sierra Club

 

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Contact: Information for the Just Transition Coalition:
Black Mesa Water Coalition Enei Begaye Wahleah Johns	Grand Canyon Trust Roger Clark 928-774-7488	To’ Nizhoni Ani Marshall Johnson Nicole Horseherder 928-380-2687 cell	Sierra Club Robert Tohe Andy Bessler 928-774-7488

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