John Clancy, Opportunities for On-Reservation Sustainable Development, 2022 Wis. L. Rev. 375 (2022).
Abstract
With the combination of the federal government acting on its trust responsibility to provide tribes adequate funding and other tools and the advancement of clean energy technologies, tribes are well positioned to pursue cost-effective, sustainable on-reservation economic development. Among others, opportunities include the development of clean energy for tribal use and potential sale to the grid, development of microgrid and energy resiliency projects, development of tribal clean energy “virtual” utilities, the implementation of electric vehicle charging, and the development of economically and environmentally sustainable housing. The passage of the fiscal year 2021 federal budget, COVID relief legislation, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as well as the potential passage of at least portions of the Build Back Better Act and the promulgation of rules such as the Department of Interior (DOI) right-of- way regulations, combine with important, long-standing federal programs to provide a unique federal legislative and regulatory backdrop for tribes to pursue sustainable economic development.
