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Photos by Black Mesa Water Coalition
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Photos by Black Mesa Water Coalition
Black Mesa Water Coalition said on Tuesday, June 18, 2013, "At
9 am this morning Navajo people dropped pumps into the Central Arizona
Project's canal and began pumping water into buckets then into the back
of a water tank in the back of a truck. We came to demonstrate that
water can be pumped using solar power. We came to demand Power Without
Pollution and Energy Without Injustice! SRP can transition NGS to Solar.
Navajos want a Just Transition!"
CONTACT: Enei Begaye, Black Mesa Water Coalition, 928.380.6296, eneibegaye@gmail.com
Unique Demo in Scottsdale:
Navajo Community Members to Pump CAP Canal Water with Solar Power
Event
to press Navajo Generating Station owners for transition from polluting
coal industry on Navajo Reservation that has powered CAP pumps
WHEN: promptly at 9am Tuesday, June 18; Press Conference to follow at about 10am
WHERE: Scottsdale Soleri Bridge at the intersection Camelback Rd & Scottsdale Rd.
This Action will be followed by a Press Conference in the Scottsdale Fashion Square parking lot.
WHAT:
Navajo
community members using a solar-powered generator to pump CAP canal
water into trucks and barrels that Navajo Nation residents use to haul
water on the reservation.
Colorful rally by dozens of Navajo tribal members and supporters with handmade signs and banners. Event slogan: Energy Without Injustice – Power Without Pollution
More
than 50 Navajo Nation community members and supporters will park water
trucks that families use on the reservation alongside the Central
Arizona Project (CAP) canal in Scottsdale today at 9am and use a
solar-powered generator to pump water from the canal to the vehicles.
Tribal
members are staging the demonstration to send a message to the owners
of the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) coal-fired power plant near Page,
Arizona that Navajo families want a transition away from a polluting
coal industry on Navajo land that has powered CAP pumps for decades at
the expense of residents’ land, health, water, and culture.
Major
NGS owners include Salt River Project (SRP)(plant operator) and the
U.S. government’s Department of Interior. Today SRP provides Arizonans
less than 1 percent solar power.
The “Energy Without Injustice – Power Without Pollution”
action demonstrates solar power as a solution. There is enough old mine
land on Black Mesa to generate thousands of megawatts of solar energy,
providing thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars for the
regional economy.
Aging
Navajo Generating Station (NGS) is among the most polluting coal-fired
power plants in America and after decades of coal industry on Navajo
Nation, many Navajo families have not benefitted; thousands still lack
electricity and running water to their homes and haul water in trucks
every week for cooking, cleaning, and drinking.
Images and video will be available after the event at http://www.facebook.com/blackmesawc and twitter@blackmesawc
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