Activist Jessica Keetso voiced strong opposition to a proposed hydrogen pipeline through her Navajo Nation homeland during a discussion on energy development and environmental justice at the Society of Environmental Journalists’ 34th Annual Conference in Tempe.
Keetso, of environmental advocacy organization Tó Nizhóní Ání, and Capital & Main reporter Jerry Redfern emphasized the historical exploitation of Navajo resources. Redfern said: “In the last 100 years, there’s been near-constant mineral extraction of all types on Navajo lands: coal, uranium, vanadium, oil, gas. And it has never brought a great deal of prosperity.”
Tallgrass Energy’s proposed hydrogen pipeline could potentially be the world’s longest. It would stretch over 200 miles from Shiprock, New Mexico, to north of Flagstaff, following an existing Navajo-owned natural gas pipeline that runs along 13 inhabited communities.
The company in 2020 bought a shuttered coal power plant located just slightly south of the Navajo Nation. It wants to transform the structure into a hydrogen power plant, where it either make the hydrogen or transport it. It also planned the construction of another factory in Farmington, New Mexico, solely to sequester CO2, Redfern explained.
The project aligns with the Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub, backed by New Mexico’s Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. It is seeking $1.25 billion in federal funds to develop hydrogen from natural gas in the Four Corners region.
But while Tallgrass Energy promoted it as a clean energy solution, the pipeline aims to leverage the Navajo Nation’s natural resources. Tallgrass has been engaging tribal leaders since 2021, Keetso said.
Keetso and Redfern argued that hydrogen production from natural gas perpetuates the same century-old harms, consuming scarce water resources and risking further ecological damage.
“More roads that go into building gas or oil operations tear up and divide the landscape,” Redfern said.
There’s also the problem of fuels leaking into the surrounding environment, the panelists explain.
Hydrogen also requires special pipelines. It can’t be run in the same pipelines of natural gas.
“I would not want a natural gas plant running, they’re unsafe. And then a CO2 pipeline, that’s also very dangerous, and a hydrogen pipeline, all close to one another,” Redfern said.
Keetso said “none of those concerns have been addressed.”
“There’s a lot of people living along that pipeline route,” she said. “There’s three chapters that don’t have internet, so how are you going to monitor these in case of an accident?”
In the crowd, researcher Joe Romm, author of the book The Hype About Hydrogen, supports the panelists’ concerns.
“It’s ridiculous to take natural gas, split out the hydrogen and then burn the hydrogen atoms,” Romm said. “World’s projects have all ended up being scrapped in the last 6 to 9 months for green hydrogen.”
The discussion underscored distrust in Tallgrass Energy’s corporate promises of economic benefits, given past unfulfilled commitments. It also highlighted a demand for sovereignty, sustainability, and accountability in energy projects.
“We don’t want this in our community. It’s not welcome,” Keetso said.
But she said tribal leadership has the ability to disregard the public.
“But our leadership should rather be protecting our land and our water,” Keetso said.
Natasha Cortinovis is a master’s student at the University of Arizona, and is part of a student newsroom led by The Arizona Republic.
Coverage of the Society of Environmental Journalists conference is supported by Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism, the University of Arizona and the Arizona Media Association.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Why Navajo activists oppose a proposed hydrogen pipeline