Native Americans Protest Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s Oil Ban Celebration

June 12, 2023

The Navajo Native Americans are demonstrating their frustration with the Biden Administrations’ decision to unilaterally block large sections of Navajo land from oil and natural gas development. Members of the tribe gathered on Sunday to stop Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s celebration ceremony commemorating the decision calling the planned celebration “disappointing and disrespectful.”

Just The News reports, 

“Biden administration officials were forced to temporarily postpone and relocate a weekend event to celebrate a ban on New Mexico fossil fuel development, after Native Americans blocked an access road and told officials to “go home” and stop “trespassing.”

Navajo Nation group shut down the entrance of Chaco Culture National Historical Park on Sunday to prevent Interior Secretary Deb Haaland from leading the event celebrating a newly-enacted, 20-year ban on oil leasing, covering hundreds of square miles of New Mexico land.

The ban – implemented June 2 – ends natural gas leasing within 10 miles of Chaco Canyon’s World Heritage site, a move landowners were adamantly against, arguing that doing so negatively impacts them and surrounding low-income communities who benefit from the leasing.”

Tribal members took issue with Secretary Haaland’s lack of consultation with Navajo representatives throughout the decision-making process and the economic impact on the tribe. Tribal members have also alleged that Secretary Haaland has outside interests from connections to oil and gas corporations and will cause financial losses for many Navajo families. 

Power The Future Founder Daniel Turner applauds the Navajo Nation for standing up to Deb Haaland,

“These Navajo landowners served up a much-needed dose of reality to Deb Haaland and Joe Biden. The decision to cut off their land from oil and gas development was opposed by the landowners and the leadership of the Navajo Nation, yet the green agenda always comes first for Biden and Haaland. We are grateful to these landowners for popping the distorted DC bubble where Joe Biden and Deb Haaland think they can ignore the voice of the people.”