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Hopi Tribe Declares Eco-Agitators Personna Non Grata
KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. - The Hopi Tribe has a message for the Sierra Club and other environmental groups: Keep out!That is the response of the Hopi Tribal Council on Monday to what it says has been continuous concerted attacks from local and national environmental groups "bent on advancing their interests and agenda at the expense of the Hopi Tribe and its sovereign interest." The council wants the Sierra Club and other environmental groups and on-reservation organizations affiliated with these groups to know they are not welcome on the Hopi Reservation, declaring them persona non grata - no longer favored or welcome. By a resolution approved 12-0, the council said environmentalists have deprived the tribe "of markets for its coal resources" and coal revenues needed to sustain governmental services, provide jobs for tribal members and safeguard Hopi culture and tradition. In 2005, environmental groups played a significant role in the shutdown of the Mohave Generating Station, which the Hopi Council contends "deprived the Hopi Tribe of many millions of dollars of annual operating revenues," according to the resolution. Revenue losses from the Mohave power plant range from an estimated $6.5 million to $8.5 million annually. The council feels that the economic viability of the Navajo Generating Station - the tribe's only remaining coal customer - is also being threatened, and that environmentalists' actions could lead to "total economic collapse of the tribe." The Navajo Generating Station provides about $11 million a year in revenue for the tribe. "The Mohave closure did little more than balance the politically expedient needs of these environmental organizations on the already impoverished backs of the Hopi and Navajo people ... without providing any reasonable means of replacing the tribal revenues lost to the closure," the resolution states. In response to these allegations, the Sierra Club released a statement on Monday saying, "Sierra Club has been invited to work with many Hopi individuals and groups ... who want to stop global warming and protect the environment and feel that Peabody's coal operations on Black Mesa is a direct threat to sacred Hopi springs." The resolution, however, states that environmental groups "have manufactured and spread misinformation concerning the water and energy resources of the Hopi Tribe in an effort to instill unfounded fears into the hearts and minds of the Hopi public." They have acted, the council alleges, with no regard for the tribe's right to determine how best to develop and manage its natural resources. Nor, the council said, has any concern been shown for the future welfare of the tribe. Besides the Sierra Club, the resolution has also banned The Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Parks Conservation Association and the Grand Canyon Trust from the Hopi Reservation. Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-10-31 |
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