Raw materials needed for energy have been found on Native Americans' sacred land

Raw materials needed for energy have been found on Native Americans' sacred land

Transcript¹

Rising gas prices and the war in Ukraine supercharged demand for mining to support electrifying³ the country's transportation grid⁴, but some of it lies on land considered sacred to Native Americans.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Higher gas prices often supercharge demand for new mines to help electrify² the U.S. transportation grid. But in the American West right now, several proposed sites like those where copper⁵'s found are on land considered sacred to Native Americans. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE⁶: Traditionally, you might not expect to hear a global mining executive talking about the perils⁷ of the climate crisis. But companies like Rio Tinto Copper know the energy market is changing fast.

VICKY PEACEY: The world is making a transition, and the world wants to make a transition quickly, right? And the Biden administration has these very ambitious goals so we can address climate.

SIEGLER: This is Vicky Peacey in Rio Tinto's Phoenix⁸ headquarters. The company has been trying to develop its Resolution Copper mine near here for more than two decades. Lately, copper is in high demand. Think electric vehicle batteries. And with global supply chain disruptions, they see a window.

PEACEY: To have a domestic source of copper that could help fuel the low carbon economy in this energy transition, I think, is really important.

SIEGLER: Peacey says the mine would meet up to a quarter of current U.S. copper demand, and the tribes will benefit. But as opponents point out, the orr would be exported for processing. Large amounts of water would also be needed in one of the hottest places in the world, only getting drier with climate change.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Protect Oak Flat. Protect Oak Flat. Protect Oak Flat.

SIEGLER: Members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe marched through the town of Globe, Ariz., near Oak Flat, where the mine is planned. It's a 45-mile march and run from their isolated⁹ reservation to their ancestral land of Oak Flat, an important ceremonial site. Twenty-two-year-old Naelyn Pike worries the war in Ukraine will be used as an excuse to fast-track the mine.

NAELYN PIKE: If you're going to say you're going to go green, then do things that are green. And by doing the largest copper mine in North America, extracting it the most detrimental¹¹ way to harm our environment, that's telling you that's not going green at all.

SIEGLER: The tribes are behind a legal challenge to halt a federal land swap¹² passed during the Obama administration that allows the copper mine to finally be developed. Western Apaches say the U.S. government has broken treaties meant to protect their sacred lands. Wendsler Nosie Sr. is a former chairman of the San Carlos Tribe who's been camping at Oak Flat in protest.

WENDSLER NOSIE SR: Yeah, this is our ancestral land. I mean, we have Indigenous¹³ rights. You know, the government hasn't done anything to really secure our children and our children's future.

SIEGLER: Still, just down the canyon¹⁴ in the town of Superior, there's a sense that the deposit is so big the mine will get developed eventually anyway. Mayor Mila Besich's family has mined here for generations.

MILA BESICH: You know, we're very respectful of our tribal¹⁵ neighbors and their concerns and their consultation¹⁶. But at the same time, if this mine doesn't open, it's a huge detriment¹⁰ to America's economy.

SIEGLER: This is one of several fights that proposed green energy mines from Arizona to Nevada to Idaho where tribes say they're once again being told to get out of the way for the greater good.

ANGELIQUE EAGLEWOMAN: I've always said that the energy sector¹⁷ in the United States has been subsidized using tribal lands.

SIEGLER: Angelique EagleWoman is a professor at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, where she's been tracking these growing Indigenous protest movements. She says the U.S. government has historically run roughshod over its treaty obligations, but today may be different.

EAGLEWOMAN: And we think we've got the ear of a U.S. president that believes in the dignity of the United States' promises that were made to Native Americans.

SIEGLER: President Biden is in a bind¹⁸. He's promised a transition to cleaner fuels but also pledged to right the wrongs in Indian Country. He recently ordered more tribal consultation on the Arizona land swap. A federal appeals court is expected to rule on the tribe's challenge to the mine any day now. Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Phoenix.

(SOUNDBITE OF WHALE FALL'S "YOU GO UP, I GO DOWN")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 electrify   

v.使充电；使电气化；使触电；使震惊；使兴奋

参考例句：

• The country is now making effort to electrify and informationize manufacture.国家正在致力于制造业的电气化和信息化。
• He needs money to electrify his surface lines.他需要钱把他的地面线路电气化。

3 electrifying   

v.使电气化( electrify的现在分词 )；使兴奋

参考例句：

• The dancers gave an electrifying performance. 舞蹈演员们的表演激动人心。
• The national orchestra gave an electrifying performance of classic music. 国家交响乐团举行了一次古典音乐的震撼性演出。 来自辞典例句

4 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

5 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

8 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

9 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

10 detriment   

n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源

参考例句：

• Smoking is a detriment to one's health.吸烟危害健康。
• His lack of education is a serious detriment to his career.他的未受教育对他的事业是一种严重的妨碍。

11 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

12 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

13 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

14 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

15 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

16 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

17 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

18 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。