Anthropogenic Climate Change is the threat of our lifetime, and the threat of people-caused global warming (the greenhouse effect) is ushering in the world’s sixth mass extinction event, the Anthropocene extinction. There are no doubts that the crisis we now face is caused by “significant human influence on climate.”
From recent reports, we may only have 11 years — or less — to get our act together, or perish. The reality is the youth know and are insisting our leaders act on behalf of future generations.
The extensive use of a fossil fuel is the central culprit to our own demise. Though seldom mentioned in the media, our worst polluter is the US military. But keeping it real, to a much smaller extent, Indian reservations are also contributors. Often referred to as “natural gas,” fossil fuel on my particular Indian reservation is called “LP Gas,” an acronym for “liquid petroleum.” Whatever it’s called, the burning of fossil fuel is harming our planet and will soon kill us all, unless we take collective action — fast.
Several Tribal communities are pulling out all the stops to go solar, such as the community of Standing Rock. They are doing so, not to make a buck but as an effort to preserve life on the planet, and to be role models for other nation states. However, it is increasingly apparent that renewable energy is the future of commerce in this country as well, and also within Indian country.
In an effort to try my hand at solar, I’ve installed a solar voltaic system that runs my music studio and home. I thought I was energy conscious before, but now that I’m running 100% off the sun’s energy my perception has changed. When I see the sun shining, I now think of the energy my system is creating, and I have changed my habits accordingly. For example, I now shower exclusively in daytime hours because the highest drain of electricity is my water heater; if the tank must re-heat water, I want that to occur when the sun is shining. I turn off lights in rooms, and turn off appliances. I have always-on appliances plugged into power strips that I can turn off when not in use. When I plug something into an electric outlet, I think about where that energy is being made, and I’m careful not to waste it.
My voltaic system also has battery backup, and I have designated a percentage of the battery for everyday use and another percentage for emergency use. I’ve experimented with different settings all year, but currently have it set at 40% daily and 60% emergency. With these settings, I recharge 40% of the battery each day, and when the sun starts to set, my building starts drawing power from the battery instead of the solar panels. My system is tied to the electric grid, so sometimes I do draw from the grid as well, but at other times I also sell my excess electricity to the grid (I have a meter that flows forward and backward). At times, I have checked my system’s indicator display well after midnight, and most nights I am still drawing power from the battery rather than the grid.
Recently, my reservation experienced an extended power outage lasting a full 24-hour day, give or take. Concerned about the summer heat and air conditioners not working, I heard calls to care for our elders. Unpowered fridges and freezers were thawing and melting foods, and folks were concerned about spoiled produce and whole meals going bad. It is clear that energy on the reservation is a safety concern, and a community one. When the grid does down, our reservation suffers.
To explain, my reservation is grid-tied, and here in Wisconsin that means consuming electricity that is largely generated by burning fossil fuel, predominantly coal. We are also somewhat enslaved to the grid system, rather than producing our own clean power. If we had solar panels mounted in several of the sunny open areas of the reservation, we could be producing our own energy and supplying it to the community. For example, during the recent outage and for the entire outage, I had electric lights, a cold fridge and air conditioning, all powered from the solar panels (in daylight) and from the 60% reserve on my backup battery (in darkness).
For my reservation, the technology is available, but similar to many other places the political will hasn’t gotten us there yet. Whether the causes of that apathy are climate deniers on the tribal council, or a general fear the initial solar startup cost might hurt the tribe, I’m not sure. But I do know that whatever the cost might be — whatever the cost — it’s good policy to put life ahead of death, renewable energy ahead of toxic energy, and longterm care of the next generations ahead of the short-term profits of the current one. As a tribe, we donated money and logs to Standing Rock in support of the Water Protectors fighting the pipeline, but continue buying and burning fossil fuel ourselves. We continue to own and maintain a liquid petroleum business, some insisting it is "good business" and mostly ignoring the immediacy of the climate danger.
What’s my best advice to my own tribal nation? Please, start paying attention to our carbon footprint, think about where our electricity comes from, actually calculate what greenhouse gases we’re sending into the atmosphere, and start working for a carbon-free future. We could be positive role models for other tribal nations, like the community of Standing Rock is doing by going solar. We could mitigate power outages, or become untethered to the grid all together. We are a sovereign nation, so how about we invest in our own production of renewable, sustainable, clean energy? Why not?! I seriously ask — why not?!