Navajo Nation Spokesman Calls Tom Steyer’s Green Energy Campaign A ‘Slap In The Face’
7:17 PM 10/31/2018 | Energy
NextGen Climate Action and Pinnacle West have spent millions over Proposition 127, a ballot initiative that calls for Arizona to dramatically increase its renewable energy mandate.
•Navajo Nation leaders have come out in sharp opposition to Proposition 127, saying that the mandate would essentially eliminate many of the energy jobs they depend on.
•Carlyle Begay, a Navajo Nation leader and former Arizona state senator, didn’t hold back in his criticism of the backers behind the initiative, whom he says did not consult with tribal leaders in drafting the proposal.
Navajo Nation leaders are not supportive of Tom Steyer’s campaign to force Arizona into dramatically increasing its renewable energy mandate, a mandate they argue would financially ruin their community.
Arizona voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to decide the fate of Proposition 127, a ballot initiative that would mandate utility companies acquire half their electricity from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, by 2030. The proposal would amend the state’s constitution and be a sharp increase from its current renewable mandate — which stands at 15 percent by 2025.
The fight over Prop 127 pits two forces against each other: Steyer and Pinnacle West. Steyer, a billionaire environmental activist from California, has funneled upwards of $18 million to promote the initiative through his own national organization, NextGen Climate Action. Pinnacle West — the parent company of Arizona Public Service, the largest electric utility company in the state — has spent more to oppose it.
Beyond the 300 elected officials and more than 100 community groups that have come out in opposition to the renewable energy initiative, one other major Arizona constituency has a strong opinion: the Navajo Nation.
Nestled in the northeastern corner of Arizona and reaching into New Mexico and Utah as well, the Navajo Nation earns the title as the largest Native American reservation in the U.S. Its population of more than 350,000 work in an array of different jobs, with a substantial amount of their income related to the energy sector. The majority of employees currently working in the Navajo Generating Station, Kayenta Mine and the Four Corners Generating Station, for example, are made up Navajo Nation members.
https://dailycaller.com/2018/10/31/navajo-nation-tom-steyer-energy-arizona/