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Sierra Club Tribal Partners: Protecting Mother Earth and Honoring Her People Friday, August 22, 2008 Our work on stopping the Desert Rock Power Plant and bringing a Just Transition to Renewable Energy was featured on TreeHugger.com Black Mesa Water Coalition Press Release: Friday, June 27, 2008 Office of Surface Mining Rejects Public's Request for extension of Black Mesa Project draft EIS Commenting Period Upcoming events Get your running shoes on for the Water is Life Run at Hopi on September 20th, 2008. You can download a flyer. (pdf) Join us to volunteer for trail work on the 1st Saturday’s of the month to prepare the 30-mile course that follows traditional Hopi trails and visits amazing and sacred springs. To help, contact us at 928-774-6103 or email andy.bessler@sierraclub.org. We already helped clean up a spring below 1st Mesa at Hopi in May. Sierra Club volunteers help Hopi run organizer Bucky Preston at Spider Spring below 1st Mesa. Spider Spring is one of the stops on the Water is Life Run. Tribal Partners Main In the News Visionary Solutions Protecting Our Natural Heritage Building Community Who We Are Click here to read the latest article on Just Transition in Sierra Club's national newsletter, The Planet. Members of the Just Transition Coalition including the Sierra Club's Partnership Program presented their plan to the California Public Utility Commission in January, 2005. Since then, The Sierra Club's Partnership Program has been working with tribal partners to educate tribal communities and their leaders about the need for a Just Transition from the closure of the West's dirtiest coal-fired power plant, the Mohave Generating Station and the Black Mesa coal mine. Click here for more information. Just Transition Coalition members include (L to R): Marshall Johnson and daughter of To' Nizhoni Ani, Roger Clark of Grand Canyon Trust, Wahleah Johns of Black Mesa Water Coalition, Enei Begaye of Indigenous Environmental Network, Robert Tohe of the Sierra Club's Environmental Justice Program, Leonard Selestewa of Black Mesa Trust, Nicole Horseherder of To' Nizohni Ani and Andy Bessler of the Sierra Club's Partnership Program. IN THE NEWS: Click here for the latest articles! Just Transition Coalition secures first step towards a sustainable economic future for Navajo and Hopi people In the wake of the shutdown of the Mohave Generating Station, California energy regulators approved a request by the Just Transition Coalition to track and accumulate revenues from the sales of sulfur credits from Mohave's primary owner, Southern California Edison, for possible future distribution to the tribes once determination of Mohave's future operation is made. Read the entire press release Sierra Club SW Partnership staff and tribal partners presented the "Just Transition Motion" to the CPUC in Dec, 2005. Just Transition has been a response to the closure of the Mohave Generating Station, a 1500 megawatt coal-fired power plant and relic of the past. Thanks to the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations, the dirtiest power plant in the west was closed on December 31, 2005. Since then, Navajo and Hopi communities have been hit economically due to lost coal and water royalties. To help replace these lost revenues, the Just Transition Coalition is proposing a plan to transfer pollution credit funds from Mohave's owners to the tribes for renewable energy development and a stronger and sustainable economy. WHO WE ARE: Andy Bessler is the Partnership's Program Representative for Tribal Partners. WHAT WE DO: The Sierra Club partnership program works with tribal partners across Indian Country to bring powerful protection to Mother Earth. Some of the work we do includes: VISIONARY SOLUTIONS: Time for a Just Transition from dirty coal to clean renewable energy. Assisting the Navajo and Hopi tribes to build strong tribal economies with clean renewable energy like wind and solar energy development. Strategic empowerment through training and providing information to tribal activists working for environmental protection. PROTECTING OUR NATURAL HERITAGE: Protecting Sacred Lands: Homeland Security since 1492! The Partnership Program assists the EJ program with the Save the Peaks Campaign. Organizing events with tribal partners like the Mother Earth Gathering in the Grand Canyon with the Havasupai Tribe. Consulting with Sierra Club groups, chapters and other Sierra Club programs to build stronger tribal partnerships troughout the country. BUILDING COMMUNITY: Working on the Rez and beyond….Reaching out to tribal communities on environmental education and building bridges with the Sierra Club. This includes trainings and support for grassroots organizing in tribal communities. The Partnership Program has helped organize Paatuwaqatsi Runs (Water is Life Runs) on Hopi's First Mesa. These long distance runs visits traditional springs and educates the Hopi public about their traditions surrounding water. Sierra Club works with tribal partners for environmental protection. Visit their websites here. LINKS: Here are web links to our tribal partners in the Southwest and tribal organizations doing great work! To' Nizhoni Ani (Beautiful Water Speaks) Native Movement Indigenous Environmental Network The Black Mesa Water Coalition The Black Mesa Trust The Paatuwaqatsi Run Committee Arizona Ethnoboantical Research Association The Save the Peaks Coalition The Youth of the Peaks Other important Sierra Club links: Sierra Club home page Grand Canyon Chapter Global Warming facts Wind siting policy of Sierra Club Sign up for SC currents SW Environmental Justice Program Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club