The Interior Department announced Wednesday more than $119 million meant to aid communities reclaiming abandoned coal mines — part of President Donald Trump’s agenda to achieve American energy dominance.
Two tribes were named as grant recipients.
The Navajo Nation and Crow Tribe of Montana are among 24 coal-producing states getting federal dollars, including Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.
Between the pair of tribes, they tallied $607,376 in federal funding stemming from the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. The Crow Tribe got $148,721, while the Navajo Nation secured $458,655.
On top of that, the federal agency on Thursday announced another $3.67 million each for the Navajo Nation, Crow Tribe and Hopi Tribe through the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization Program, which is supposed to help states and tribes by “turning legacy coal mining sites into engines of economic growth.”
Despite diversifying and transitioning to some sources of renewable energy, like solar, the Navajo Nation still heavily depends on coal to fuel its economy — even though the Navajo Generating Station in Page and nearby mines at Black Mesa and Kayenta all shut down within the last two decades.
Four Corners Power Plant, owned by APS, solely relies on coal coming from the Navajo Mine near Fruitland in New Mexico. It produces almost 5 million tons of coal annually, generating over a third of the tribe’s general fund.