Green jobs' path to middle class, sustainability largely blocked to Native Americans

[turbinetree]

The green economic boom promises many Americans well-paying jobs. But sustainability industries are struggling to reach people of color.

Alia Wong, USA TODAY

Published 5:00 AM EDT Apr. 30, 2021 Updated 9:06 AM EDT Apr. 30, 2021

As a boy, Dayne Goodheart became fascinated with the sun. He'd learned that its energy was being harnessed to power spacecraft and started to wonder about such technology's potential on Earth.

His fascination grew over the years, as did that potential. As an adult, Goodheart vowed to use solar power to help free his Nez Perce reservation from a reliance on dams and other outdated energy sources that threatened the Idaho tribe’s way of life.

Jasmine Neosh came to a similar awakening later in life. She was working as a bar manager in Chicago when the Dakota Access Pipeline protests erupted at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in 2016.

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/education/2021/04/30/native-americans-blocked-green-jobs-middle-class/4715621001/

[Bayard]

1. There are concerns that need to be addressed

"If I was a Native American student and was being asked to come and work for the United States Forest Service – an entity that was very instrumental in removing me from my ancestral land – would it not be analogous to me being asked to come and work for some overseers?" said Ezeilo, who was born in Nigeria. "Wouldn't that be the same thing as being asked to come and work in a an administrative position on a plantation?"