DeepSummary
This episode discusses the impacts of the energy transition on Native American communities and lands, covering topics such as mining for critical minerals like lithium on indigenous lands, the history of energy development conflicts with tribes, and the importance of obtaining free, prior and informed consent from tribes before proceeding with projects. Kate Finn, the executive director of First Peoples Worldwide, explains how her organization advocates for indigenous rights through shareholder engagement and embedding respect for Native peoples into business operations.
Finn highlights notable examples like the proposed lithium mine at Thacker Pass in Nevada, which does not have consent from local tribes who consider the area sacred, and the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy. She emphasizes the need to avoid replicating past patterns where economic benefits went elsewhere while environmental and cultural degradation remained on tribal lands. Finn advocates for elevating indigenous-led solutions and decision-making in the energy transition.
The conversation touches on the role of the Biden administration, with Finn advocating for a return to a consent-based framework before approving projects impacting tribes. She expresses optimism about the growing power of indigenous voices and solutions, seeing the transition as an opportunity to reframe systems and decision-making to incorporate Native perspectives and traditional knowledge.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The energy transition's demand for critical minerals often impacts indigenous lands, necessitating free, prior and informed consent from tribes before proceeding with projects.
- There is a long history of conflicts over energy development on Native American lands, where economic benefits went elsewhere while environmental and cultural harms remained.
- Indigenous peoples are not anti-development, but want to protect sacred lands and have a voice in decision-making that impacts their communities.
- Indigenous-led solutions and traditional ecological knowledge should be elevated in the transition, as Native communities often have sustainable practices aligned with biodiversity and environmental stewardship.
- Shareholder advocacy and embedding respect for indigenous rights into business operations are strategies to incentivize companies to obtain consent.
- The Biden administration needs to return to a consent-based framework before approving projects impacting tribes, repairing relationships with Native nations.
- While challenges remain, the energy transition presents an opportunity to reframe decision-making systems to incorporate indigenous perspectives and knowledge.
- Obtaining true consent often allows projects to proceed more smoothly by addressing concerns proactively and avoiding social conflicts down the line.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “So consent is the ability for tribes and indigenous peoples to say no, and that's not the regime we have. In the United States, we have a consultation regime that shares information but doesn't always accept that no.“ by Kate Finn
- “So, to your question about urgency, it's really on our mind that there is an urgent need to incentivize free prior and informed consent, as enumerated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of indigenous Peoples in order to not only protect the human rights of the people living on the land where the minerals are, but also to show corporations that it is not in their best interest to move forward without consent.“ by Kate Finn
- “I think transition is just the time to do so.“ by Kate Finn
- “They will know if a tailings pond, if the climate is getting warmer and there's more humidity in the air and the tailings pond is leaching chemicals into the land, those are things that tribal preservation officers might know.“ by Kate Finn
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Episode Information
Columbia Energy Exchange
Columbia University
4/30/24
Across the U.S., large scale renewable energy projects, transmission lines, and mining sites for critical minerals are built on or near tribal lands. For example, the federal government plans to loan billions of dollars to Lithium Americas to develop a lithium mine in Nevada at a location known as Thacker Pass, sacred to local Paiute and Shoshone people.
With the tumultuous history of energy development on indigenous lands, many tribes are pushing back on citing new infrastructure on their land.
So, how is the energy transition impacting Native American communities? And what are advocacy groups and the federal government doing to protect indigenous rights and lands?
This week host Bill Loveless talks with Kate Finn about the contentious history of energy projects on Native American lands, how that history influences energy development today, and how her organization is working to ensure Native Americans have a seat at the table in determining how best to use indigenous lands.
Kate is the executive director of First Peoples Worldwide, an organization focused on upholding the rights, sovereignty, and economic power of Indigenous People around the world. She was the inaugural American Indian Law Program Fellow at the University of Colorado Law, where she worked directly with tribes and Native communities. Her recent work focuses on the impacts of development in Indigenous communities, and embedding respect for Indigenous peoples into routine business operations.