Energy can fuel a future of promise Most Native Americans -
particularly those on remote federal trust reservations - have
never been blessed with adequate, dependable energy. This is
certainly true of my people, the Hopi Tribe, who live on an arid
and isolated 1.6 million-acre homeland in Northern Arizona.
Power outages are commonplace in our homes, businesses and
government offices. We are plagued by service providers who have
no incentive to upgrade antiquated equipment and transmission
lines that break down in the mildest of storms. And the costs
are far too high. The Hopi have few dollars left at the end of
the month to pay exorbitant electricity and fuel bills. Our
situation is ironic and terribly unjust, as the Hopi reservation
is home to a massive reserve of coal. Millions of tons of high
quality coal lie beneath the surface of our vast homeland. There
is no reason why Hopi cannot generate all of its energy needs
while producing power for off-reservation consumer markets.
Indeed, that is our goal for