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Indigenous Rights and Clean Energy Aren't Mutually Exclusive, Confusing Trolls [1]

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Date: 2023-03-03  

Protests against wind farms in Norway have sparked a resurgence of wind energy disinformation, since climate deniers can’t seem to wrap their heads around the fact that environmental justice activists can advocate in favor of wind energy while also objecting to green colonialism and the destruction of Indigenous ways of life. (Or maybe they're actually just jumping at an excuse to be gross at Greta Thunberg.)

This week, activists, including Thunberg , blocked the entrance to the Norwegian energy and finance ministries in order “to pressure the Norwegian government to take down 151 turbines that make up two wind farms in the Fosen region of central Norway.”

Though the disinfosphere's just taking notice, these protests are the continuation of previous legal battles and advocacy around the complex issue of Norwegian wind farms and Indigenous rights. The Sámi people practice the cherished tradition of herding semi-domesticated reindeer on Sápmi, their ancestral homeland, and reindeer husbandry is the main source of income for many Sámi families. Wind energy projects block herders’ migration routes, and turbines disrupt reindeer grazing patterns. By building huge wind farms in Sápmi, wind energy companies and the Norwegian government are destroying long-standing Sámi traditions and violating Indigenous rights.

Christina Henriksen, then-president of the Saami Council NGO, explained in 2020, “[Sápmi] is our homeland, on which our culture, our people, our existence depend. This is where we transfer Indigenous knowledge between generations, this is where we get our nutritious, traditional food, so the Saami Council’s view on the wind power development is that it is a new kind of colonialism.”

Of course, instead of engaging with this issue in any meaningful way, conservative media used these protests as an opportunity to attack the environmental justice activists. Fox News dismissed the protesters as “mainly teenagers,” and Breitbart snidely quipped , “Will Nobody Think of the Reindeer?” before gleefully rejoicing when Thunberg was “Hauled Off by Police.”

Daily Caller reporter Trevor Schakohl pointedly brought up the fact that "Thunberg has been an outspoken critic of fossil fuels, highlighting wind and solar power as renewable energy sources,” as if that somehow invalidates her current activism in Norway. Thunberg has literally always argued that the transition away from fossil fuels needs to center equity and climate justice , Trevor! This isn’t the “gotcha” moment that you want it to be!

On Twitter, numerous fossil fuel fanatics, including Steve Milloy , Michael Shellenberger , and Matthew M. Wielicki , referenced the Norway protests and criticized both Thunberg specifically and wind energy in general. Disinfluencer Tom Nelson wrote , “If you’re keeping score, Greta has now heroically protested both for *and* against wind turbines. Science!” Yes, she has, Tom. That's not a burn. Context is important!

Could someone please explain to these climate deniers that Indigenous rights and renewable energy both matter at the same time? We don’t expect them to stop with all the fossil-fueled misogyny aimed at Thunberg, but we’d love to see their mental gymnastics.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/3/2156018/-Indigenous-Rights-and-Clean-Energy-Aren-t-Mutually-Exclusive-Confusing-Trolls

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