Renewable Energy on American Indian Land

Abstract Could utility-scale renewable energy development on American Indian Reservations earn a “double-dividend” by cutting carbon emissions while reducing poverty for tribal nations that want development? This study offers three insights. First, the colonial process of reservation creation left tribes with favorable wind and solar endowments, and these endowments are largest on reservations with the poorest populations. Second, despite favorable endowments, renewable projects on reservations are rare. Thus far, reservation land areas are 46% less likely to host wind facilities and 110% less likely to host solar than comparable adjacent lands. Third, if the disparity in renewable uptake persists, tribes may forego over $19 billion in landowner lease and tax earnings that could be accrued under forecasts of net-zero energy transitions by 2050. We discuss barriers that explain this investment disparity and emphasize this is not a call to impose federal energy priorities on unwilling tribes.