Desert Rock Coal Plant Falters

Plans for a new coal plant on the Navajo Reservation in northwest New Mexico are fading as limited markets, lack of funding, and local opposition delay construction, reported High Country News.  The Desert Rock coal plant was conceived in 2003 by the local Diné Power Authority, with the goal of putting energy decision-making and revenue into Navajo hands. Ideally, the plant would bring local jobs and sorely needed income to the poverty-stricken reservation, yet it would also be likely to deplete already limited water supplies, increase air pollution and pollute the water with toxic metals like selenium and mercury, harming endangered fish species, according to High Country News.  And although the current Navajo Nation president, Joe Shirley Jr., supports the plant, his term is up soon, and opposition to the plant is strong in local communities. Required permits and funding for the project are also evaporating as construction is delayed.  Finally, no market for Desert Rock power has been identified since California and local utilities won’t purchase coal-generated power. All in all, the article depicts an uncertain future for Desert Rock.

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