Clean Air-Cool Planet is the Northeast's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming.
Clean Air-Cool Planet is the Northeast's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming.
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Quote of Note Plan Ahead! Register for the second annual Global Warming Speakers Training in Boston, jointly hosted by CA-CP, the Greenhouse Network and MCAN. Did You Know? Website Spotlight |
Winds of Change on the Plains, Clean Air at Home
The flight from New Hampshire to Omaha, Nebraska had taken five hours, followed by an equal time behind the wheel of a rental car crossing three states. The final leg of the drive was marred by light rain and fog, a rare commodity in the drought-stricken Northern Plains region. Neither the day’s travel nor the preceding year’s work in support of the first Native American-owned utility-scale turbine, however, was sufficient to prepare me for the sight that finally came into view driving north on Route 83 from Valentine, NE. There, peering through the mist on the South Dakota border, was the Rosebud Sioux Turbine (RST), its three props turning regally in the steady breeze, blades disappearing in the low cloud cover. I pulled the car over to contemplate the turbine’s significance: it has the potential of displacing 2,900 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere a year--roughly equivalent to removing 350 cars from the road; Clean Air - Cool Planet was invited to participate in the May 1st dedication ceremony of this 750 kW project after playing a small role in the final stretch, through our Vermont-based partner, NativeEnergy, a national marketer of renewable energy credits or “green tags”. Their company offers individuals and corporations an opportunity to fight climate change by offsetting the emissions from their homes, businesses and travel through purchase of the tags which are then “donated” to CA-CP—making the environmental benefits permanent by ensuring that the tags are retired, avoiding the possibility that they might be traded in the future. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe, in turn, fulfilled its dream of generating clean, affordable, dependable power a reality. NativeEnergy provided key financing for the RST through its upfront purchase of the bulk of the turbine’s 25-year stream of green tags, which represented approximately 25% of the project’s million-dollar price tag.
CA-CP, in turn, worked with several corporate partners who have agreed to reduce their CO2 footprint largely through energy efficiency, to determine how green tags might help move them towards carbon neutrality. In 2002 our business partner The Timberland Company became one of the first U.S. corporations to purchase green tags as part of its environmental commitment. The outdoor clothing and footwear retailer “retired” 2,400 tons of CO2– enough to offset the carbon emissions of electricity use by 28 of Timberland’s retail stores for a full year through its WindBuilders purchase.
A group of children from the tribe’s elementary school sat patiently through part of the ceremony, beside a wall covered with their drawings of the turbine; they seemed happy to leave behind the speakers to walk the muddy field towards the 267-foot tall symbol. Pat Spears, President of ICOUP, told the group at the dedication ceremony that the RST could generate enough power for 220 homes, which will mean a steady stream of revenue for the isolated reservation in sales to a local utility cooperative, and cleaner emissions for people downwind, in the Northeast. The Rosebud Sioux, described as the “Voice of the Four Winds People,” are currently testing the wind capacity at ten sites with the hopes that the next phase will mean the construction of as many as 30 turbines.
The turbine serve as a link to the tribe’s past in protecting Mother Earth, according to Spears. It’s also a kinetic symbol of their future, since half of the reservation’s population is below the age of 20. He sees a future of opportunity for the Rosebud Sioux--potentially new jobs on the Rosebud Sioux Wind Ranch, with clusters of wind turbines spinning slowly over the gently rolling pastures like the scattered cattle ranches in this part of the country, self-sufficient, aligning themselves with the prevailing winds. --Bob Sheppard |
is supported by a unique financing package, backed by leading business from the Northeast; and is offsetting emissions generated from existing coal-burning power plants that impact air quality from the Midwest all the way to my home in Maine. Longtime supporter Bob Gough, secretary of the Intertribal Tribal Council on Utility Policy (COUP), calls it an overnight success that took eight years to achieve.
