- The largest lobbying group for Native Americans in the US demands Washington put offshore wind development on hold after complaints tribes have been cut out of the process.
According to Bloomberg article published on February 24, 2023, the National Congress of American Indians on Thursday called for a moratorium on offshore wind development along US coasts, insisting the Biden administration do a better job protecting tribal interests.
The decision by the largest lobbying group for tribes in the US follows a plea Tuesday by 30 New Jersey governors to halt offshore wind activity so government officials can investigate recent whale deaths. And even before those moves, developers were confronting a slew of economic challenges, from inflation-stoked costs to supply chain woes, that are making it harder to build the nation’s first large commercial wind farms.
Native Americans have complained about being cut out of the planning, permitting and contracting process as developers seek to build more than a dozen wind projects along both the West and East coasts, despite vows by President Joe Biden and top administration officials to consider indigenous knowledge in government decisionmaking. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the nation’s first Native American cabinet secretary, also has put a new focus on environmental justice and indigenous rights as head of the department that oversees offshore wind.
Representatives for the Interior Department and its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. But recognizing that many Native Americans live near and use areas where offshore energy projects are planned, the bureau has emphasized its commitment “to maintaining open and transparent communications” with tribal governments and native organizations.
In its resolution, the National Congress of American Indians urges the agencies to halt all scoping and permitting of offshore wind projects until a “comprehensive and transparent procedure adequately protecting tribal environmental and sovereign interests” has been implemented.
The resolution, adopted by NCAI’s general assembly during a just-concluded winter meeting in Washington, D.C., stressed tribal nations “must be included in the management, permitting and development of power purchase agreements.”
That includes determining the terms and conditions of those deals — including protections for their environmental and cultural heritage as well as “negotiating fair compensation for the use of their lands and resources.”
