Clean Power Plan Testimony by Colleen Cooley 

EPA Region 8 Building - Denver, CO 

July 30, 2014 

Yd'at'eeh. My name is Colleen Cooley and I am from the Four Corners region. I grew 

up on the Navajo Nation in a community known as Shonto, AZ. I currently live and 

work in the Four Corners region of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. 

I am here today as a young Dine woman and I plan to have kids in the near future 

and I plan to build a home for myself, my fiancé and my kids on the Navajo Nation in 

the next 5 years. I am an advocate for living sustainably and I want to live off the 

land as much as possible - meaning I want to grow my own food, collect my own 

water, utilize the sun and wind for my energy needs. I already exercise some of 

these things in my currently living situation, but if I want to continue living this way, 

there needs to be clean air and clean water available in the next 100 years for 

myself, my kids, and future generations. 

Right now, the Navajo Nation is surrounded by at least 5 coal-fired power plants, 2 

of which are located on the Navajo Nation. When I heard about the proposed Clean 

Power Plan, I was happy to hear that the nearby power plants were going to reduce 

their carbon pollution. Shortly after, another article was released stating that power 

plants located in Indian Country were being delayed from the proposed rule and 

that Tribes will have the opportunity to come up with their own cleanup plans. 

I understand there are multijurisdictional issues with tribes and states, especially 

for the Navajo Nation, but this is just unacceptable. Why should the Navajo people 

continue to suffer from the carbon pollution from the 2 biggest power plants in the 

We.kAct.-U.S.? It just doesn't make sense because the pollution emitted from the Four Corners 

at fi, Power Plant and the Navajo Generating Station does not stay on the reservation, it 

travels off the reservation affecting nearby communities, towns, national parks, and 

61,40( waterways. Also, none of the power generated at these 2 power plants goes directly 

k.940 to the Navajo people. The power is owned by non-Navajo utility companies and is 

delivered to southern Arizona and southern New Mexico and from there our Navajo 

Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) purchases the power back from these companies in 

AsATA.r lit:t11-7s order to provide electricity to its Navajo customers ottivt residing on the Navajo Nation. 

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From the pollution to giant power lines running througn the Navajo Nation, this is 

an environmental justice issue, ultimately a human rights issue. So, to be fair to all 

tSC°f?' living things on this Mother Earth, I strongly urge the Environmental Protection 

Agency to enforce the Clean Power Plan for all power plants in the U.S. including 

power plants located in Indian Country. 

Since high school, I have seen and heard about how these power plants have 

affected the health of the people, the land, the waterways, the animals, and the air 

we breathe. So after high school, I decided to continue my education, go to college, 

and learn more about the environmental issues and the factors affecting our Dine 

lifeways. And now, I have received my Bachelor's degree and Master's degree in 
Environmental Sciences and I am currently working with a non-profit 

environmental organization that works with Navajo communities affected by energy 

and environmental issues. However, one does not need to have a college degree to 

understand that the climate is rapidly changing. And what is the main contributor to 

this change? -Carbon pollution! 

Our Navajo elders have lived and witnessed these changes in their lifetimes. I know 

because I have listened to their stories about how they used to grow their own food 

every summer, how the springs and washes were filled with water for their sheep 

and horses to consume, how it used to rain periodically, but now our climate is 

being disrupted with carbon pollution and it will only get worse, especially in Indian 

Country unless the EPA enforces the proposed Clean Power Plan on all power plants 

in the U.S. 

The Dine people and other tribes deserve an equally strong plan as the rest of the 

country to protect our lifeways, the health of our people, and the health of the land, 

water, and air. We are not fortunate enough to just relocate from our communities if 

they get destroyed by catastrophic events such as wildfires and flash floods. We 

have suffered the burden of climate injustices for far too long and it needs to stop 

now. Please enforce the Clean Power Plan for all power plants. 

Ahe'hee'! Thank you! 

Colleen Cooley 

ccooley22@gmail.com