Energy democracy at the scale of Indigenous governance

Abstract

This chapter analyzes energy democracy at the scale of Indigenous Native American governance and offers examples of how energy democracy is being practiced at this level. Indigenous Nations, people, and organizations are engaged in multiple energy democracies by protesting pipelines, banning fracking, promoting Indigenous government public participation processes, addressing sexual violence in extraction zones, and developing solar and wind projects on Indigenous lands. This chapter begins by unpacking the relationships between Indigenous nations, democracy, and governance. Then it explains energy democracy and how the justice, participation, and power framework enables examination of the enactments of energy democracy by Indigenous people and Nations. Next the chapter analyzes Honor the Earth’s campaigns for engaging in and supporting energy democracy at the scale of Indigenous governance to show how they both enact and challenge the principles, processes, and practices of energy democracy. The chapter concludes by considering the possibilities of energy democracy as a framework for a just response to the climate crisis for Indigenous nations, many of which will be disproportionately harmed by the impacts of the climate crisis.