Movie Night "Red Power Energy"

A provocative film from the American Indian perspective that reframes today’s controversial energy debate while the fate of the environment hangs in the balance.

Can energy development empower a people while powering the nation?

Tribal lands are the microcosm of today’s controversial energy debate. Between the fears that fossil fuels cause climate change and the hope that renewable energy can save the planet, lies the complex reality of American Indian reservations grappling with the balance of culture verse progress, poverty verse new-found wealth, and the fate of the environment.

Fifty-six million acres of tribal lands contain 10% of the nation’s renewable energy potential and 20% of America’s onshore oil and gas reserves. Tribal lands hold roughly 30% of the coal found west of the Mississippi, nearly 20% of the known natural gas and oil reserves and up to 50% of potential uranium reserves. Solar power could produce 9,275 million MWh of electricity per year; twice the nation’s requirement, and wind power on tribal lands could power to 50 million homes.

Uniquely intimate, provocative and told from the Native perspective, with a nearly all-Native film crew and all-Native Advisory Council, Red Power Energy is a multi-media documentary that combines engaging storytelling with in-depth journalism. Featured are Western and Great Plains American Indian tribes in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. From tribes mining coal, drilling oil and fracking natural gas to a coalition of tribes and individuals building sustainable wind farms and small scale residential solar, an engrossing story emerges that showcases America’s indigenous population reclaiming their right of self-determination.

From a historically passive role in mineral extraction that frequently left their resource-rich reservations either leased out for pennies on the dollar or contaminated by environmental degradation and Federal mismanagement, Native people are in the midst of an extraordinary resurgence. They are challenging long-held stereotypes, fighting for the sovereign right to control their lands, and develop their natural and mineral resources --- however they choose. These Native-told energy stories offers a rare insight into the ideological battle shaping modern Indian Country and further advances a deeper understanding of American Indian culture which is too often under-reported, misunderstood or overlooked.

For more information visit: http://www.rmpbs.org/redpowerenergy/