The National Congress of American Indians
Resolution #TUL-13-019
TITLE: Support of Crow Coal to Liquids Pilot Project
WHEREAS, we, the members of the National Congress of American Indians of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants the inherent sovereign rights of our Indian nations, rights secured under Indian treaties and agreements with the United States, and all other rights and benefits to which we are entitled under the laws and Constitution of the United States, to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise promote the health, safety and welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following resolution; and
WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was established in 1944 and is the oldest and largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments; and
WHEREAS, the Crow Tribe owns coal resources located in the northeastern and eastern portions of the Crow Indian Reservation held in trust by the United States of America and it appears that clean coal conversion technologies (e.g. coal gasification and liquefaction), including capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide produced by the plant, will provide the best market for this Crow-owned coal in the future; and
WHEREAS, the Crow Tribe has relied on the coal for 40 years as its only other source of income, besides the limited grants given to by the government; and
WHEREAS, the Crow Tribe and its 13,000 members currently struggle socially and economically, with an unemployment rate at 47 percent, inadequate health care and myriad of social issue afflicted by our members through lack of resources; and
WHEREAS, the Crow Tribe and its Leadership have worked to further develop its Natural Resource Coal for the benefit of its members and to further develop the 9 billion tons of Coal available of which has minimally been tapped into; and
WHEREAS, the Crow Tribe intends to develop the Coal to Liquids Pilot Project (CTL) according to the highest standards of environmental protection, health and safety as required under applicable law, with due regard and priority for the protection of the Crow cultural resources, and provisions for the capture and sequestration of substantially all the carbon dioxide produced by the CTL Plant; and
WHEREAS, the CTL Project development provides the opportunity to monetize a substantial portion of the Crow Tribe’s vast coal resources, for the Tribe and Tribal members to receive a fair share of the value-added from processing the coal and selling the end products for the benefit of the energy independence and national security of the United States, a Pilot Project is desired; and
WHEREAS, the CTL Plant if successfully completed, the Crow Tribe will receive substantial economic benefits, in addition to Tribal member employment rights, college scholarships and technical training opportunities specific and for the Crow Tribe and Tribal members to participate in the management of the CTL Plant and obtain the skills.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NCAI does hereby support the Crow Tribe Coal to Liquids Pilot Project to gain further support from the Department of Energy for the development of a Crow Coal to Liquid Plant for benefits of furthering tribal self-sufficiency; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.
CERTIFICATION
The foregoing resolution was adopted by the General Assembly at the 2013 Annual Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Cox Business Center from October 13 - 18, 2013 in Tulsa, Oklahoma with a quorum present.
President
ATTEST:
Recording Secretary