The Colorado Plateau is home to some of the most spectacular landscapes, canyons, and rivers in the United States. It also contains significant deposits of potential energy resources. Mining the uranium and fuel deposits unique to this region threatens the land, water, and air, and in the case of oil shale and tar sands, could dramatically expand our nation’s carbon footprint. At the same time, ample solar and wind resources call for renewable energy alternatives more appropriate for a region widely recognized as a climate change hotspot.
We safeguard the Colorado Plateau’s iconic landscapes from destructive uranium mining and milling.
In partnership with a broad coalition, we won a 20-year ban on new uranium mines within the Grand Canyon watershed. We continue to advocate for the closure and timely clean-up of existing uranium mines, and we work to ensure that the White Mesa uranium mill complies with the laws and regulations designed to protect public and environmental health.
The use of our federal public lands – such as these – for oil shale and tar sands mining threatens to destroy the Colorado Plateau’s iconic landscapes.
Strip mining for tar sands requires removal (and destruction) of the land surface – a practice often analogized to mountain top removal for coal.
Over 810,000 acres of federal land in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming are available for oil shale and tar sands mining, threatening to irreparably degrade land, water, and air.
For decades, industry has failed to make oil shale and tar sands mining economically viable. These unconventional fuels are the bottom of the barrel – the worst oil in the West’s best places.
Oil shale and tar sands development near the Green River, along with oil and gas development in the Uinta Basin, threaten water quality and quantity throughout the Colorado River Basin.
The Trust’s Energy Program works to keep landscapes like this free of oil shale and tar sands, keeping these dirty fuels in the ground where they belong.
The Trust is working to curb greenhouse gas emissions on the Colorado Plateau by opposing oil shale and tar sand mining, preventing methane waste from oil and gas development, and reducing emissions from coal fired power plants. Our climate work recognizes that the plateau’s off-the-charts contributions to climate change via large-scale carbon-intensive energy production stand in stark contrast to the plateau’s well-known extreme susceptibility to climate change.
Photovoltaic installation on the Navajo Nation with Shonto Energy and Colby College volunteers, Spring 2014.
Assembling photovoltaic panels with Shonto Energy and Colby College volunteers, Spring 2014.
An off-grid solar system installation at the home of Paula Curtis near Leupp, Arizona on the Navajo Nation.
80KW solar photovoltaic system being installed at Leupp High School, Leupp, Arizona.
A happy crowd stands in front of a 40KW solar system installed at St. Michael's Indian School.
An agreement in 2005 between the Trust and owners of a coal-fired power plant provided $5 million in renewable energy grants for homes, schools, and community buildings located on the Navajo, Hopi, Hualapai, and Zuni reservations. More than 200 solar, wind, and energy efficiency projects received funding for materials, while supporting partners covered labor and other costs.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs is the latest elected official to call for an environmental review of Pinyon Plain uranium mine.
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Dr. Laura Crossey explains what scientists know about groundwater in the Grand Canyon region.
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More than 275,000 pounds of radioactive materials imported from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency headed to Utah's White Mesa Mill.
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