Navajo Nation EPA head joins Gov's Climate Change Advisory Group
WINDOW ROCK -- The Navajo Nation will have its say about clean air in Arizona, both on and off the reservations.
Stephen Etsitty, head of the Navajo Nation's Environmental Protection Agency, was appointed to the Arizona Governor's Climate Change Advisory Group (GCCAG) in early July.
Etsitty said he is concerned that any development on the Navajo Nation is done with the idea of meeting clean air standards.
"In the past, development was done without our input," he said.
Etsitty is one of three Native Americans serving on the commission with the others from Gila River and Salt River Pima.
"They selected the tribal representatives because of who we are and what we are doing," he said. "We're sharing our information and resources. We're making sure the policy is reflective of the government to government relationships of Indian tribes. This is for the Indian nations in Arizona, but it's also for the well being of all of Arizona."
Etsitty said this means that the tribe should not be emitting air pollution into border towns and border towns should not be polluting the air into Indian reservations. He said there are reservations in some other states that have bad air and none of it is coming from the reservation.
Etsitty said the governor is working on adopting an overarching policy that protects the air both on and off the reservation.
"I applaud the governor for that," he said.
Etsitty said his appointment to the state commission is a reflection of the tribe's good relations with the state and will allow the tribe to have its input in air quality on and off the reservation.
"The appointment recognizes the success of our programs and gives us a seat at an important table about an important issue," he said.
The GCCAG was formed by executive order by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. The GCCAG met for the first time in July and will meet every other month as it prepares recommendations for Gov. Napolitano by June in order to help the governor formulate policy.
"We'll look at the sources of carbon dioxide, greenhouse emissions and what can be done," he said.
Etsitty, who called the appointment an honor, became executive director of the Navajo Nation EPA in 2003.
He is proud that during the past two years that the Air and Toxics Department's air quality control program has moved to take over the permitting processes for major sources of air emissions on the Navajo Reservation.
Etsitty, who earned a BA in urban studies from Stanford, said this is the first step in the Navajo Nation taking control over the air on the Navajo Reservation.
Etsitty said it is the Navajo Nation's success with this program that motivated the state to reach out and include them in fighting for clean air.
"In Arizona, the Navajo Nation is one of the major players when it comes to air quality," he said.
In the 1990s, air quality became a topic of discussion in Arizona, particularly at the Grand Canyon. This caused the Navajo Nation to think about its own air quality and in 1995 the Navajo Nation created its own Clean Air Act.
But that act is tailored after the U.S. Clean Air Act and Etsitty believes the tribe can further tribal sovereignty by creating its own air standards with the input of the Navajo people and by keeping the Navajo culture in mind.
Born in Phoenix, he was raised on Black Mesa before he graduated from Brophy Prep in Phoenix. After graduating from Stanford, he worked as a transportation planner for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and then worked eight years as environmental protection specialist for Indian programs for the U.S. EPA--the first five years in San Francisco and then three years in Washington D.C.
Etsitty also serves on the climate change group in New Mexico. He previously served on the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council.
Etsitty and his wife Doreen have three daughters.
(Stan Bindell, former Observer editor, is journalism and radio teacher at Hopi High School.)
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