US sunworshippers hope to profit from solar energy

A poverty-stricken American Indian tribe that holds the sun and nature's other gifts sacred sees a brighter future for itself in solar power. The 3,000 members of the Jemez Pueblo are on the verge of building the United States' first utility-scale solar plant on tribal land, a project that could bring in millions of dollars.

Experts say tapping into sun, wind and geothermal energy on vast tribal lands of the American West could generate the kind of wealth many tribes have seen from slot machines and blackjack tables. "We don't have any revenue coming in except for a little convenience store," said James Roger Madalena, a former tribal governor who now represents the pueblo in the state Legislature.

"It's very critical that we become innovative, creative, that we come up with something that will last generations without having a devastating impact on the environment."

 

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