United States Environmental Protection Agency OPPTS Tribal News Spring 2008 Volume II Exposing its Ancient Ice In This Issue 1 Article 1 Environmental voicesvoices Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances and Tribal Environmental News Exchange www.epa.gov/opptintr/tribal Table of Contents LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS Toby Anungazuk, Jr. Table of Contents Roger Burnside Pete Christich News & Events .........................................................................3 Patricia Cochran Environmental Concerns & Issues ............................................7 La’ona Dewilde Rhea DoBosh Climate Change ...............................................................11 Brian H. Hirsch Wildlife & Endangered Species .......................................15 Secody Hubbard Coal Mining & Industry ..................................................19 Janice King Jensen Janice Johnson Oil Exploration & Industry ..............................................27 Steve Johnson Solid Waste & Open Dumps ............................................30 Mary Lauterbach Toxic Contaminants .........................................................37 A. J. Matthews Programs & Initiatives ............................................................43 Hailey McKenzie Howard Norman Success Stories ........................................................................46 Doug O’Harra Alaska Faces Spruce Bark Beetle Infestation .........................54 Evon Peter Kid's Page ...............................................................................56 Joe Sarcone Bill Stokes Elders ......................................................................................58 Colleen E. Swan Jennifer Sweigart D. Warden Lynn Zender Chris Zimmer 2 OPPTS Tribal News requests interesting, relevant stories about pesticide and pollution prevention programs and projects in Indian country from our readers. If you want to share your experience with our readers, please write or Spruce Tree Beetle send an email message to Mary Lauterbach, EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue (MC7408M), Washington, DC 20460, lauter- [email protected]. The Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances is pleased to include the comments and opinions of contributors. Byline articles and interviews represent the opinions and views of contributors and not necessarily those of the U.S. Environmental To be placed on our mailing list, write to: Protection Agency. All web sites and URL's were true and current at the time of publication. OPPTS Tribal News, U.S. EPA, OPPT OPPTS Tribal News is a publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is intended for noncommercial, scientific, and educational purposes. 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Mary Lauterbach, OPPTS Editor Danielle Glitz, Assistant Editor OPPTS Tribal News, Volume 5, Number 2 Shanita Brackett, Writer EPA 745-N-00-001 Hailey McKenzie, Intern ISSN: 1555-3175 (on line) 1555-3183 (in print) Michelle Humphrey, Photographer Brian Adams, Graphic Design News & Events Transition to Sustainable Energy Sources Adapted from “Traditional Wisdom and the Dilemma of Fossil Fuels in Alaska,” Evon Peter, Chairman, Native Movement Byline articles and interviews or two. This is a very serious issue Strategy for represent the opinions and views of for communities around the world. the Transition to contributors and are not necessar- We must discuss the impacts of Sustainability ily those of the U.S. Environmental this reality as well as the possible We have to transition to a Protection Agency. solutions within each of our sustainable way of life once again. communities. We have many opportunities to use Elders have said that there will The burning of fossil fuels is tools that will make life much easier come a time when we will have also linked to global warming, than the lives our ancestors had. It to live from the land once again. which is beginning to have a major is a transition into a healthy and Although most of our peoples have impact on our way of life as well. sustainable way of life for us and never been fully separated from There is melting of sea ice, drying for many future generations. It is life on the land, we have become of the tundra that leads to out-of- our responsibility to our children, comfortable with some western control wildfires, land erosion, and grandchildren, and to their grand- ways that are not sustainable for the possible extinction of some animal children to make the transition in future generations. The environ- species. We cannot ignore the our lifetime. ment that we live in, the waters we climatic impacts of fossil fuel use. The transition to a healthy and drink, the air we breathe, and the sustainable way of life will most animals that give themselves to us, Things to Consider likely take a number of years. Each are either being depleted and/or Our elders teach us that we need community has a unique situa- 3 contaminated. The time has come to think of the future generations tion and therefore a unique set of for us to heal ourselves and in that and that we need to respect our challenges they will need to address. process begin to apply the tradi- relationships with the land, animals, There is no one solution for all tional wisdom of our peoples to the and spirits. A part of our spirituality communities, but there are some challenges we face. is how we maintain our relation- initial steps and actions that are We have time to make wise ships, not only with one another, universally applicable: decisions for future generations and but also with all of creation, all our ◗ Conserve energy and minimize ourselves that will ease the suffer- relations. There is wisdom in this the use of fossil fuels. One ing our people encounter. We must approach to life. approach might be to run prepare for a time of transition or We depend on water, air, food, diesel generators for a minimal risk facing a crisis situation later. and shelter for our survival. So number of hours each day, One of the more pressing issues it makes sense that we should maybe between 3-12 hours is the use of fuels in Alaska (gas, consider those things being avail- a day when it is most useful, propane, diesel, coal, etc.). able for future generations a neces- such as during business hours. The way of life most of us have sity in the decisions we make today. We should also only use snow- become comfortable with in the last Unfortunately, availability is not machines, four wheelers, and 50 or so years is based on the use of the only issue. We also need to boats when necessary. This will fossil fuels. We rely on gas, diesel, consider accessibility and contami- significantly reduce the amount or coal for our snow-machines, nation. In parts of the continental of money villages have to four wheelers, cars, boats, planes, United States, pollution has resulted raise for fuel expenses. electric generators, home heating, in water sources being unsuitable refrigerators, water pumping, and for human consumption. In other shipping of supplies. The reality we areas, people are advised to restrict face is that fossil fuels are a limited their fish consumption due to resource that will be running contamination levels. out at the current rates of global consumption within a generation News & Events ◗ Invest in renewable energy tion. Also, depending on the The purpose of this piece is to sources such as solar, wind, environment and what types of encourage deeper dialogue about and mini-hydro. While renew- foods people desire, it might be the realities we face in Alaska and able energy sources will not desirable to farm the land. around the world. It is a time sensi- be able to power villages with tive manner. ◗ Use available resources to 24-hour electricity, they can Our elders teach us that we support the transition to provide energy during times need to think of the future genera- health and sustainability. We of sun, wind, and/or flowing tions and that we need to respect have resources available to us currents. Perhaps funding saved our relationships with the land and from the federal government, in fossil fuel conservation efforts animals. We should listen. We need native corporations, founda- could be used to invest in to actively transition into a healthy tions, and individual donors renewable energy infrastructure. and sustainable lifestyle or be forced that can be used for this transi- into it later under much more diffi- ◗ Re-learn traditional ways tion. For example, rather than cult circumstances. of life and new sustainable pay out individual dividends practices. It would be wise to from the corporations we could re-learn traditional ways for choose (vote) to invest in renew- hunting, water harvesting, food able energy sources for the storage, and shelter construc- villages.