Warnings from First Americans: Insidious Changes Are Underway that Will Affect Us All

http://inthesetimes.com/rural-america/entry/20583/tribal-sovereignty-economy-environment-voting-rights-extractive-industry
Date Written:  2017-10-05
Publisher:  In These Times
Year Published:  2017
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX21663

Rural America In These Times spoke to Native Americans--people whose survival requires being extremely well informed about what all branches of the federal government are up to. From their vantage point as sovereign entities with direct government-to-government relationships with the United States, the tribes have a unique perspective on issues including voting rights, the economy, the extractive industries' hold over this administration and more.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

Fire on the mountain

Kim Jong-un can relax! We have already nuked ourselves and are looking into a great way to poison ourselves even more with radioactive waste. In June, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Rick Perry suggested using the Nevada National Security Site, aka the Nevada Test Site, as an interim waste dump and at the same time reopening licensing procedures for nearby Yucca Mountain. Under Perry's plan, the mountain, revered as a sacred site by area tribes, would eventually become the permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel and other radioactive material.

The waste would travel via roads and railroads through communities throughout the country as it made its way to Nevada. Once it arrived, its home would be deep inside the earthquake-prone mountain. The DOE’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the project admits that Yucca Mountain may be shaken by "ground motion" and that "beyond-the-design" events could collapse the waste facility.