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Since the closure of the 1500 mw Mohave Generation Station and Black Mesa Coal Mine at the end of 2005 thanks to legal action by the Sierra Club and others, the Partnership Program has been working with tribal partners in the Just Transition Coalition on the Just Transition Plan. This visionary solution would use funding from Mohave's primary owner, Southern California Edison (SCE) for renewable energy development on both Navajo and Hopi lands.
The Just Transition Coalition includes the Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Trust, Black Mesa Trust, Black Mesa Water Coalition, Indigenous Environmental Network, and To' Nizhoni Ani.
Marshall Johnson of To' Nizhoni Ani speaks at a April 17th rally outside of Navajo Nation Council Chambers in Window Rock, AZ. Marshall has worked with the Partnership Program to educate Navajo tribal leaders about the Just Transition Plan.
What is Just Transition?
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Simply put, Just Transition is an effort to create jobs and stop global warming by shifting an economy based upon coal and fossil fuels to a sustainable economy based on culturally-appropriate economic development that includes renewable energy like wind and solar. The Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe have been hurt economically by the closure of the Mohave Generating Station and the Black Mesa Mine. However, both tribes are rooted deeply in their rich traditions and are starting to explore economic development that respects their cultures, not draining it.
In addition to cleaner air over the Grand Canyon, the Mohave shutdown also reduced the drawdown of pristine drinking water of both tribes. The Navajo Aquifer is ice-age water resting below Black Mesa that has been pumped by Peabody Coal through a 273-mile coal slurry line that fed Mohave for several decades. Recent NRDC reports show that Peabody's pumping has been threatening Hopi and Navajo Springs and drinking wells. This pristine water has sustained Navajo and Hopi communities since time immemorial and a strong campaign since 2001 finally saw the coal slurry line shut down at the end of 2005. Tribal leaders are watching to see if springs and wells are replenished and continue to sustain Black Mesa for generations to come.
Background on the Just Transition Plan
The Sierra Club Partnership Program, along with other members of the Just Transition Coalition, created the Just Transition Plan in an attempt to offset the crushing economic blow to both Navajo and Hopi Tribes upon the closure of the Mohave Generating Station, Black Mesa Mine and Coal Slurry line. Here is how it will work:
When Mohave shut down, the owners of the plant were eligible for millions of dollars in sulfur dioxide allowances. Since Mohave is no longer emitting over 40,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and other pollutants, under an EPA program, the Mohave owners can sell these allowances to other utilities that need the allowances to pollute. Although this is dirty money, literally, and the Sierra Club opposes this EPA program, we are urging that these monies be given to the tribes for a "Just Transition" to renewable energy development.
On January 11th, 2006, the Just Transition Coalition filed a motion (word doc) called the "Motion for a ‘Just Transition' in response to closure of the Mohave Generating Station" to the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC). We asked the CPUC to create an escrow account using sulfur dioxide allowances from SCE, Mohave's primary owner, who the CPUC regulates. Once this escrow account is created, over $20 million annually would be available to Navajo and Hopi tribes for investment in renewable energy development on tribal lands. Once both tribes approve an investment plan for the money, the CPUC would release the funds to the tribes and renewable energy projects would find funding, job creation and a Just Transition.
Why give these funds to the tribes? There is ample evidence that both tribes have unjustly subsidized cheap electricity with dirt-cheap coal and water leased from the tribes under shady deals many years ago. For decades, California has had cheap electricity from Mohave at the cost of Navajo and Hopi water and land. We have given the CPUC the ability to restore some justice for the tribes and help California meet its renewable energy portfolio standard by purchasing renewable energy produced by the tribes.
Several tribal leaders and organizations are in support of the Just Transition Plan including the Apollo Alliance, Honor the Earth, TURN (California Rate payer advocates), and the National Tribal Environmental Council.
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' Nizhoni Ani and Andy Bessler of the Sierra Club's Partnership Program. The Coalition had just finished presenting the Just Transition Motion to CPUC chairman Michael Peevey.
Background documents on Just Transition
- Sierra Club's Consent Decree that shut Mohave down (pdf)
- Small PowerPoint slideshow describing the Just Transition Plan (power point)
- Just Transition one-page bullet summary (word doc)
- Apollo Alliance support letter (word doc)
- Shonto Chapter support letter (pdf)
- Shonto Chapter support letter (part 2) (pdf)
For more information on the Just Transition Plan, please contact:
Andy Bessler
Sierra Club's Environmental Partnership Program
P.O. Box 38
Flagstaff, AZ 86002
928-774-6103
fax 774-6138
cell 928-380-7808
andy.bessler@sierraclub.org
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