In June NBC News interviewed Andrew Curley, geographer and University of Arizona Press author of “Carbon Sovereignty: Coal, Development, and Energy Transition in the Navajo Nation" about the recent U.S. Supreme Court's ruling (5-4) against the Navajo Nation's water rights in a dispute in the lower Colorado River Basin. “It’s not surprising that the Supreme Court, a colonial court, would side with a colonial government," Curley said. "The power is stacked against tribes in this scenario."

About 'Carbon Sovereignty'

For almost 50 years, coal dominated the Navajo economy. But in 2019 one of the Navajo Nation’s largest coal plants closed. Curley's comprehensive work offers a deep dive into the complex inner workings of energy shift in the Navajo Nation. 

Curley, a member of the Navajo Nation, examines the history of coal development within the Navajo Nation, including why some Diné supported coal and the consequences of doing so. Curley explains the Navajo Nation’s strategic choices to use the coal industry to support its sovereignty as a path forward in the face of ongoing colonialism. Carbon Sovereignty demonstrates the mechanism of capitalism through colonialism, and the construction of resource sovereignty, in both the Navajo Nation’s embrace and its rejection of a coal economy.

Related news

Supreme Court rules against Navajo Nation in water rights dispute (NBC News, 6/22/23)

About the University of Arizona Press

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