2021 Environment & Energy News Stories
Climate change: On the edge and nowhere to go (Indian Country Today) 12/28/21
As miners chase clean-energy minerals across the West, tribes fear a repeat of the past (The Seattle Times) 12/28/21
‘Dangerous precedent’: Pipelines, land defenders and the colonial policing of Indigenous nationhood (The Narwhal) 12/22/21
A spiritual perspective on climate change (Indian Country Today) 12/21/21
Arizona’s utility commission slashed just transition assistance for tribes (High Country News) 12/21/21
Swinomish Tribe wants to resurrect U.S. clam gardening (Crosscut) 12/15/21
New Mexico regulators weigh transfer of power plant shares (Indian Country Today) 12/13/21
Remembering Standing Rock five years later: Importance of Indigenous journalism (Native News Online) 12/5/21
Indigenous leaders pledge to oppose new Enbridge developments (Native News Online) 12/4/21
Inuit Circumpolar Council concludes “EEE Workshops” to develop circumpolar protocols for equitable and ethical engagement of Inuit communities and Indigenous knowledge (Indian Country Today) 11/30/21
Centering Native American and Indigenous voices in ocean conservation (Ocean Conservancy) 11/22/21
States fail to adequately address climate change: An Indigenous peoples' analysis of COP26 decisions (Cultural Survival) 11/22/21
Biden administration protects portion of New Mexico's Chaco Canyon from oil and gas leasing (NRDC) 11/15/21
U.S. officials at Consulate General in Scotland reject letter presented by Indigenous peoples urging the Biden administration to take action against continued fossil fuel leasing and drilling (Indian Country Today) 11/10/21
Are carbon markets the new gaming for tribes? (Indian Country Today) 11/8/21
Native-owned renewable energy companies to receive more than $6.5 million from Department of Energy (Native News Online) 11/8/21
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland promotes Indigenous knowledge at COP26 (Native News Online) 11/6/21
'Climate champion’ makes waves in Canada’s Parliament (Indian Country Today) 11/3/21
Donlin Gold mine jeopardizes a way of life in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (Earth Justice) 11/2/21
The nation’s last uranium mill plans to import Estonia’s radioactive waste (High Country News) 11/1/21
Why protecting tribal rights is key to fighting climate change (Yale Environment 360) 10/27/21
Adapting to climate change by saving sacred seeds (Cultural Survival) 10/27/21
Indigenous peoples can't get to world's 'most inclusive' climate conference (Vice) 10/26/21
Navajo Nation pushes for radioactive waste remnants to be removed (Indian Country Today) 10/24/21
Michigan tribes to Biden: Enbridge Line 5 threatens our treaty rights (Bridge Michigan) 10/12/21
Members of Oglala Sioux Tribe blast Army Corps of Engineers for violating tribal sovereignty in Dakota Access Pipeline Environmental Impact Statement process (Indian Country Today) 10/12/21
Navajo leaders seek hearing on oil and gas drilling dispute near Chaco Cultural park (Navajo-Hopi Observer) 10/12/21
Indigenous leaders at the frontlines of environmental injustice and solutions (NRDC) 10/11/21
Oil pipeline protesters are building trauma support centers (Vice) 10/7/21
Joe Biden reactivates Arctic Executive Steering Committee (Indian Country Today) 10/6/21
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta tribes fight Donlin Pipeline permit (Indian Country Today) 10/4/21
BIA announces tribal climate resilience grants totaling $13.84 million awarded for FY 2021 (Red Lake Nation News) 9/27/21
How Indigenous knowledge is changing the way California tracks the effects of climate change (Capitol Public Radio) 9/22/21
Partners establish $20M trust fund to back Indigenous-led conservation efforts in SE Alaska (Tribal Business News) 9/20/21
Tribes, Indigenous groups, conservation organizations file petition to strengthen federal mining rules (Indian Country Today) 9/17/21
Tribal solar projects provide more than climate solutions (Yes! Magazine) 9/16/21
The University of Arizona launches Indigenous Resilience Center, addressing environmental issues (Archinect) 9/17/21
Indigenous leaders face barriers to UN climate conference (Indian Country Today) 9/16/21
Coalition of experts sound alarm on Line 5 pipeline's threats to tribal interests and climate change (Earth Justice) 9/15/21
Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission receives Bureau of Indian Affairs tribal climate resilience funding (Indian Country Today) 9/9/21
Federal judge allows excavation work on Native massacre site (High Country News) 9/3/21
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination letter on Line 3 (Turtle Talk) 9/3/21
Inuit Circumpolar Council holds workshops to develop circumpolar protocols for equitable and ethical engagement of Inuit communities and Indigenous knowledge (Indian Country Today) 8/31/21
EPA and Justice Department reach settlement with Northern Cheyenne Utilities Commission to address Clean Water Act violations in Montana (EPA) 8/31/21
Ruby Montoya submits motion to withdraw guilty plea in Dakota Access pipeline case (Indian Country Today) 8/31/21
Inside the latest Indigenous push to stop a massive copper mine (Crosscut) 8/30/21
Panel considers future of coal-fired power plant (Indian Country Today) 8/30/21
Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Burns Paiute Tribe ask federal judge to halt activity near Thacker Pass mine (The Nevada Independent) 8/27/21
11,000-year-old solution to modern problem: Ancient potato could thrive in changing climate (Yale Climate Connections) 8/27/21
Tohono O'odham Nation awarded $200,000 for Environmental Justice Projects under the American Rescue Plan (EPA) 8/25/21
A young Seminole activist worries about threat of rising seas to her native land (Yale Climate Connections) 8/25/21
Indigenous peoples and Black communities from six American countries join the movement against the Line 3 project (Indian Country Today) 8/23/21
Scanning the horizon: Opportunities for environmental justice and stewardship in Indian Country (Indian Country Today) 8/20/21
Southern Ute Indian Tribe joins international natural gas initiative (The Durango Herald) 8/19/21
'Rights of nature’ lawsuits hit a sweet spot (Indian Country Today) 8/15/21
Inuit review the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report on the Physical Science Basis and prepare for crucial COP26 talks in Glasgow (Indian Country Today) 8/11/21
Morongo authorized by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement Federal Clean Air Act (Indian Country Today) 8/9/21
Indigenous-led tech solutions for a better planet (ITU) 8/9/21
In legal fight against pipeline, wild rice is the lead plaintiff (The Seattle Times) 8/6/21
Following predictions of global climate chaos, Indigenous representatives discuss sustainability initiatives (Cultural Survival) 7/24/21
Standing Rock activists hold event to call on Biden to shut down DAPL (Indian Country Today) 7/26/21
Judge hears fight over lithium mine on Nevada-Oregon line (Indian Country Today) 7/22/21
Winona LaDuke released from jail with conditions to avoid Enbridge Line 3 work areas (Native News Online) 7/22/21
Nikki Cooley with local tribal environmental organizations speaks to Congress on climate justice (Arizona Daily Sun) 7/21/21
Maine mining project CEO's comments about Indigenous rights stir controversy (Maine Public) 7/20/21
Tlingit and Haida completes construction on new greenhouse (Indian Country Today) 7/12/21
Paradigm shift: Tribe is now an owner of the power grid (Indian Country Today) 7/12/21
Historic summit of tribes across Pacific Northwest presses dam removal on Inslee, Biden, Congress (The Seattle Times) 7/9/21
A quest for Alaska oil sparks a fight over tribal sovereignty (High Country News) 7/6/21
Investigation urged into Canadian mining waste in Montana (Indian Country Today) 6/29/21
Tribal oil boom versus Joe Biden's climate push (Indian Country Today) 6/28/21
Biden administration signals climate and tribal impacts irrelevant to Line 3 (Earth Justice) 6/24/21
Indigenous women invite Deb Haaland to see devastation of Line 3 for herself (Alaska Native News) 6/21/21
'We're just somebody little': Amid plans to mine lithium deposit, Indigenous, rural communities find themselves at the center of the energy transition (The Nevada Independent) 6/20/21
Decolonize climate adaptation research (Science Magazine) 6/18/21
Indigenous women and the climate crisis (Cultural Survival) 6/16/21
Pueblo of Acoma signs 15-year agreement with Colorado energy company, makes plans to maintain its own utility (Albuquerque Business Journal) 6/15/21
Minnesota appeals court upholds approval of Line 3 permits (Duluth News Tribune) 6/14/21
‘It’s a great day for Mother Earth': Indian Country welcomes demise of Keystone XL pipeline (Indianz) 6/10/21
Native activist avoids jail time for Keystone XL protest (Indian Country Today) 6/10/21
Environmental justice and climate change is multi-dimensional for Indigenous people (West River Eagle) 6/9/21
Wyoming tribes take over full ownership of oil and gas field (Indian Country Today) 6/7/21
Voices from the tribes: Paiute, Shoshone elders' perspectives on Nevada lithium mine proposal (Native News Online) 6/7/21
Pipeline workers are scaring Indigenous elders away from their own lands (Vice) 6/4/21
As floods become more frequent, climate change threatens Seminole Tribe of Florida (Native News Online) 6/2/21
Treaties offer new aid in environmental fights (Indian Country Today) 6/2/21
Enbridge pipeline showdown looms in Michigan (Indian Country Today) 5/23/21
Lithium mining proposal in Northern Nevada threatens Paiute and Shoshone land (Native News Online) 5/13/21
Michigan tribe banishes Enbridge Line 5 pipeline (Indian Country Today) 5/11/21
Local Skagit County governments, tribes join opposition to mining in Skagit headwaters (Wilderness Committee) 5/5/21
Bay Mills Indian Community brings contested case against Line 5 Tunnel proposal (Turtle Talk) 5/3/21
Navajo Utah Commission discusses road work, post office, solar farm (San Juan Record) 4/27/21
Webinar: 2021 Indigenous Nations & Climate Change Summit (Yale School of the Environment)
Tribal nations adapt to being at ‘ground zero’ of the climate crisis (High Country News) 4/14/21
Despite promises to listen to tribes and fight climate change, Biden administration allows oil to continue flowing through Dakota Access Pipeline (Earthjustice) 4/9/21
Cheyenne River and Standing Rock youth take action in Washington, DC, to demand Biden end pipelines (West River Eagle) 4/6/21
Tribes sue to halt proposed mine work in Little Rocky Mountains (Missoulian) 4/4/21
New Mexico Indigenous leaders criticize oil and gas industry amid Interior's federal review
(Carlsbad Current Argus) 3/25/21
Tribes defend Minnesota waterways from dangeous Line 3 pipeline (EarthJustice) 3/19/21
Scrapped pipeline may impact sacred tree protection (Indian Country Today) 3/16/21
Tribal guide to climate change (Indian Country Today) 3/12/21
Phosphate mine company will clean up waste to settle lawsuit (Miami Herald) 3/4/21
Juneau Climate Change Solutionists: Protecting Forests through Indigenous land management with Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson (Juneau Empire) 3/4/21
Tribes could play a cricual role in achieving a bold new conservation goal (Audubon Magazine) Spring 2021
Illinois Indigenous and environmental groups call Biden administration to shut down Dakota Access Pipeline expansion (The Daily Northwestern) 3/2/21
Quinault, Suquamish Tribe highlight climate crisis in front of U.S. Senate (The Daily Chronicle) 2/26/21
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announces $220 million contract awards for the clean-up of more than 50 abandoned uranium mine sites on the Navajo Nation (Indian Country Today) 2/15/21
Climate justice must include Indigenous sovereignty (The Berkeley Beacon) 2/10/21
The fight for an equitable energy economy for the Navajo Nation (High Country News) 2/1/21
Native American traditional knowledge played key role in Wisconsin's Climate Change Report (Herald Times Reporter) 1/26/21
Navajo woman chosen to head US Indian Energy (Indian Country Today) 1/25/21
Tule River Tribe receives $25,000 grant for clean energy project (Porterville Recorder) 1/21/21
California Native American tribes receive $2m to develop clean energy projects (Bioenergy Insight) 1/19/21
Lakota People's Law Project statement on Biden plan to cancel KXL (Red Lake Nation News) 1/19/21
Activists in Japan rally against plans to export radioactive material to Utah (The Salt Lake Tribune) 1/4/21
