Campbell calls tribes to a more careful approach to energy production

By: Jerry Reynolds

WASHINGTON - At a well-attended two-day conference in Washington on tribal energy issues, former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell said the nation can learn from the traditional thinking of tribes as it grapples with energy production processes that must account for global warming. For their part, under new energy law, tribes can prosper without sacrificing their cultures to energy production, and they can serve the nation's energy needs.

The conference, conducted by Law Seminars International, drew a full house of tribal leaders and featured discussions that would never have emerged from behind closed doors only 10 years ago. A full report on the proceedings is forthcoming. But as an appetizer, Campbell set the table as only he can.

''You don't get an all good result of energy production without some negative offset somewhere,'' he said July 18. ''I guess what we have to do, from the standpoint of Indian country ... is that we have to go back to our old belief about the seventh generation, and make sure that what we're doing is not going to do more damage than good in the future, and realize that there is a word called, words called, the concept of unintended consequences, and move along carefully, move along slowly. Use models that have already been proven to the good ... and recognize that it's not going to be all a bowl of roses here. There's going to be something in there [energy development processes] you're probably going to have to deal with and you might not like. But taking the precautions ahead of time and trying to offset that, I think, is the best interest of the tribes ... trying to keep in place their cultural, religious integrity.''

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