Native American rights activists and
environmentalists gathered at Calpine
headquarters in San Jose today to dissuade
the energy company from its decades long
plan to develop a power plant on a sacred
area near mount Shasta. Calpine operates
over 90 geothermal, renewable power plants
in the U.S. with nearly 30 in California.
Tribes are concerned the power plants would
pollute local indigenous communites and the
sacred area called Medicine Lake in Northern
California.
The Medicine Lake Highlands are sacred to 5
Native American tribes in Northern
California. But that’s not stopping Calpine
energy’s plan to develop two 49 megawatt
geothermal power plants there, a plan tribes
and environmental groups oppose. Radley
Davis, with the Pit River Nation says those
plans would damage the spiritual integrity
and health of his people.
"It’s a spiritual place there’s no need for
any development there. When the world was
being created the creator stopped there to
bathe himself its’ a place to go to get well
in the water to heal you with proposed
energy development there with geothermal to
drill and look for steam to create energy
there are other considerations of exposure
to radon, mercury, arsenic and what this
would do to the air the water, the ground."
The Pit River Nation and environmental
groups took their battle to the 9th circuit
court of appeal and won a decision from a
three judge panel last year, which reversed
leases, Calpine had to the land. Medicine
Lake is in an area known as the Glass
Mountain Geothermal Reserve, one of the
largest untapped geothermal reserves in the
state. According to Calpine spokesperson
Kathryn Potter, the energy company is still
considering all its legal options to pursue
development. With the help of federal
agencies they’ve filed an extension and are
considering an appeal. John Dearing is a
spokesperson for the Bureau of Land
Management, one of the federal agencies
involved in the suit.
"It has some geothermal resources that we’d
like to tap into or private companies w ould
like to tap into to produce energy.
Geothermal is an alternative energy to oil
and as you know oil is expensive oil is
running out so the us govt. and the energy
policy determined we should look for other
resources."
Activists served Calpine with a an eviction
notice to end it's decades long plan to
develop power plants on the area. According
to native rights activists, California tax
payers would provide 50 million dollars in
subsidies to develop the power plants, only
to see the energy sold to an out of state
power company, and then resold back to
California. Jimbo Simmons of the Indian
treaty Council says Calpine’s fight to
access the resources on Medicine Lake is one
example of the war energy companies are
waging against Native Americans across the
us.
“Over 170 native American sites are in
jeopardy today places like Bear Butte in
South Dakota, the San Francisco Peaks in
Arizona, Medicine Lake, Black Mesa, the
Artic National Wildlife Refuge, Devils
Tower. Were talking about 50 million acres
of land, still in federal trust status with
70%-90% of natural resources untapped on
Indian lands. We’re talking about an energy
war. What’s gonna happen is they’re going to
come to the Indian lands here in America to
get those resources for energy.”
Calpine, the Bureau of Land Management and
the US Forest Service have until February
21st to file an appeal to the full 9th
Circuit Courts.
