Commentary: Indigenous sovereignty must be part of New York's climate response |
The Western New York Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park, or STAMP, is a 1,250-acre tech park located in Genesee County. A massive data center proposed at the site has been the subject of a lawsuit by the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and the Sierra Club.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s climate failures abound. Just in the past few weeks, she has approved a fracked gas pipeline, kept operational a polluting cryptocurrency mine on Seneca Lake, paused implementation of the All-Electric Buildings Act, and threatened to weaken our historic Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Previously, she indefinitely stalled cap-and-invest, New York’s program to make corporate polluters pay; and propped up dangerous nuclear energy. These measures harm average New Yorkers while profiting greedy corporations.
Moreover, Hochul joins previous state leaders who have violated treaties with Indigenous nations in New York, thus undermining their sovereignty. These violations are deeply linked with her climate failures, because........