2020 Environment & Energy News Stories
Indigenous treaties are helping to secure environmental wins (New York Public Radio) 12/29/20
Tribal leader Clara Pratte wins Pritzker Award for young environmental innovators (UCLA Newsroom) 12/17/20
Columbia River conference highlights importance of Indigenous perspective in conservation (The Daily News) 12/15/20
Indigenous activists speak out against plans to import radioactive material to southeast Utah (Salt Lake Tribune) 12/10/20
Minnesota gives final green light to disputed oil pipeline (Indian Country Today) 11/30/20
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community surges ahead with its own climate plan (CleanTechnica) 11/26/20
An ancient people with a modern climate plan (Washington Post) 11/24/20
A record 6 Native Americans were elected to Congress. Here's where they stand on climate. (Grist) 11/18/20
Whitmer moves to shut down Enbridge's Line 5 (The Detroit News) 11/13/20
NCAI condemns formal withdrawal by the United States from the Paris Agreement; reaffirms tribal nations' commitment to the Accord (Indianz) 11/5/20
Navajo Nation may acquire stake in Four Corners power plant (Albuquerque Journal) 10/27/20
An uncle's promise leads to a revolutionary solar project in Red Lake Nation (Duluth News Tribune) 10/26/20
Judge denies tribes' request to freeze Keystone XL Pipeline construction (Montana Public Radio) 10/21/20
Tribes ask court to shut down Dakota Access pipeline until enviro review is done (Reuters) 10/19/20
University grad student bridges Native American communities and solar energy (The Minnesota Daily) 10/17/20
N.M. utility, tribe to break ground on solar farm (Santa Fe New Mexican) 10/17/20
National Tribal Leadership Climate Change Summit begins with virtual session on tribal climate change policy (Indian Country Today) 10/14/20
Yakama Nation sues city over landfill site, hazardous waste (Miami Herald) 10/13/20
Navajo Transitional Energy Company receives highest honor for exemplary mining and reclamation from U.S. Department of Interior (Indian Country Today) 9/30/20
The Inuit Circumpolar Council Alaska releases Inuit-led report: Food Sovereignty and Self-Governance — Inuit Role in Arctic Marine Resource Management (Indian Country Today) 9/14/20
Cherokee Nation firefighters assist western tribes during turbulent fire season (Public Radio Tulsa) 9/11/20
Alaska Native tribes and 15 U.S. states file suits to stop oil drilling in Arctic refuge (Anchorage Daily News) 9/10/20
Corps of Engineers formally launches Dakota Access Pipeline study (The Bismarck Tribune) 9/10/20
As the Arctic thaws, Indigenous Alaskans demand a voice in climate change research (Science Magazine) 9/9/20
EPA unveils Western office to focus on abandoned mine tracking, cleanup (Indianz) 9/3/20
Tribes, lawmakers seek pause on New Mexico drilling plan (Indian Country Today) 8/28/20
Standing Rock Sioux seek developer for 235-MW wind farm (SP Global) 8/25/20
Jenni Monet: Indian Country's ANWR (Indianz) 8/24/20
Standing Rock developing wind farm near Fort Yates (The Bismarck Tribune) 8/24/20
Mineral rights on hold amid North Dakota tribes' lawsuit (Indian Country Today) 8/2/20
Climate point: Saving the Amazon and sourcing clean water for Navajo Nation (The Desert Sun) 7/31/20
Native Sun News Today: Ft. Berthold tribes to benefit from methane pollution control order (Indianz) 7/30/20
Environmental concerns now issue in wake of Creek ruling (Tahlequah Daily Press) 7/29/20
Northern Cheyenne try again to block coal sales that Trump revived (Indian Country Today) 7/20/20
Nuclear waste site near Carlsbad opposed by Indigenous groups during public hearing (Carlsbad Current Argus) 7/9/20
Big #NoDALP news: Federal judge orders shutdown of Dakota Access Pipeline (Indianz) 7/6/20
Court rules Yakama Nation mining lawsuit can proceed (Indian Country Today) 7/4/20
'What choice do we have? As the Arctic warms, the Inupiat adapt (High Country News) 7/1/20
SustainRT contributes carbon offsets donation to Native Energy (American Library Association) 6/23/20
Ruling cancels energy lease in the Badger-Two Medicine area (Montana Public Radio) 6/16/20 (See Solenex LLC v. Bernhardt)
Company's bid to build dams on tribal land a step closer (Navajo-Hopi Observer) 6/16/20
Cronkite News: Plan to 'revive' uranium mining called unneeded, unwanted by advocates (Indianz) 6/9/20
Shunning virus and Big Oil, Alaska tribe revives traditions (The Columbian) 6/7/20
North Dakota tribe to fight ruling giving minerals to state (Miles City Star) 6/4/20
Climate change threatens the ancient wild rice traditions of the Ojibwe (Scientific American) 6/1/20
Company floats new proposal for hydropower on tribal land (Navajo-Hopi Observer) 6/2/20
The Sioux man 'empowering' Standing Rock with solar power (Al Jazeera) 5/25/20
YES! Magazine: Gardening advice from Indigenous food growers (Indianz) 5/25/20
First piece of disputed Keystone XL pipeline finished, but court ruling hangs over project (Omaha World-Herald) 5/21/20
A sustainable arctic has to include Indigenous groups (Earth Institute, Columbia University) 5/15/20
Activists blast virtual meetings about drilling (Indian Country Today) 5/14/20
Tribe, states: Stop coal sales from US lands (Indian Country Today) 5/13/20
Native Sun News Today: Pipeline loses permit, but construction continues (Indianz) 5/8/20
North Dakota tribes receive $810,000 to cleanup and revitalize properties (Environmental Protection Agency) 5/6/20
Tribes, conservationists, urge action on transboundary mining (Juneau Empire) 5/1/20
Federal court vacates Keystone XL permit, orders remand to federal agency (Turtle Talk) 4/16/20
Statement from Fort Belknap and Rosebud on KXL lawsuit (Turtle Talk) 4/13/20
Alaska villages clamp down on travel (Indian Country Today) 4/10/20
Culture, resilience, and sustainability of the Salish people (State of the Planet, Columbia University) 4/7/20
Tribal nations demand response to climate relocation (High Country News) 4/1/20
Tribes score victory in long-running battle against Dakota Access Pipeline (Indianz) 3/25/20 (See Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. US Army Corps of Engineers)
Journalists covering Indigenous Peoples in renewable energy should focus on context and truth, not click-bait (Indianz) 3/23/20
Dakota Access Pipeline case to be argued today in D.C. (Turtle Talk) 3/18/20
State Patrol takes power tools to indigenous structures, arrests two in Olympia climate protest (The Seattle Times) 3/10/20
Efforts underway to bolster tribes' energy independence (The Durango Herald) 3/9/20
Clean energy produced on Navajo land could help power Los Angeles (Indianz) 3/5/20
Project promotes sustainability on Pine Ridge Reservation (Indianz) 3/2/20
As Gulf swallows Louisiana island, displaced tribe fears the future (USA Today) 2/27/20
Statement from the Lakota People's Law Project as North Dakota Public Service Commission approves expansion of the Dakota Access Pipeline (Indian Country Today) 2/20/20
Taking advice on climate change from our Native neighbors (East Oregonian) 2/15/20
Navajo files to intervene in Arizona utility rate case (The Charlotte Observer) 2/13/20
Native Sun News Today: Native lawmakers weigh pipeline shield bills (Indianz) 2/10/20
South Dakota approves $100 million solar project on Pine Ridge Reservation (The Bismarck Tribune) 2/6/20
Indigenous tribes are at the forefront of climate change planning in the U.S. (Grist) 2/4/20
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe hails end to nuclear waste project (Indianz) 2/3/20
EPA grant for Cherokee Nation will fund hazardous waste work (Tahlequah Daily Press) 1/24/20
Coastal erosion unites village of Kivalina and Louisiana tribes in UN complaint (Alaska Public Media) 1/23/20
Two Michigan tribal citizens selected for State of Michigan's first Environmental Justice Advisory Council (Turtle Talk) 1/23/20
Oglala Sioux Tribe appeal seeks survey of uranium mine site (South Dakota Public Broadcasting) 1/23/20
Tribes file complaint with UN saying climate change threatens existence (Indian Country Today) 1/21/20
Beyond coal: Building out solar (Indian Country Today) 1/21/20
Keystone XL Pipeline construction schedule reported to Montana federal court (South Dakota Public Broadcasting) 1/15/20
Agreement extended, NTEC mine stays open (Gillette News Record) 1/8/20
Permit dispute with Navajo Nation-based coal firm unresolved as deadline approaches (Casper Star Tribune) 1/6/20
Amid California power outages, tiny tribe offers a beacon of energy (The Seattle Times) 1/2/20
