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TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2003

"With the Supreme Court’s decision in Navajo Nation v. United States, the handwriting appeared on the wall with a gravitas almost worthy of the Old Testament. In light of that decision, every federal agency can or may insist that tribes demanding managerial participation in their own projects have assumed their own risks and liabilities in full. In the words of that seasoned champion, Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, the government will wash its hands. The court system is standing by to interpret the federal trust function as a guarantee of tribal property rights, but not of an interest in the assets derived from them unless specific liabilities are spelled out in the governing federal statutes.

If many of us were nervous about free enterprise before this out-of-bounds court decision, many of us are no doubt near-frantic now over the future configuration of the federal-tribal trust relationship.

Against this background come three energy bills in the current Congress. Taken altogether, they can’t help but nudge us toward a still more advanced state of panic."

Get the Story:
Adamson: Energy bills carry both risk and opportunity (Indian Country Today 5/27)

Relevant Documents:
Summary of Indian Energy Title III | Indian Energy Title III | Amendment 34

Relevant Links:
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee - http://energy.senate.gov

Related Stories:
Indian energy title adopted without changes (04/30)
Some tribes concerned about Indian energy bill (4/29)
Energy bill will streamline Indian development (04/15)
Tribal energy bill limits environmental review (03/24)
Tribes weigh effects of energy legislation on trust (03/20)
Navajo Nation tussles with new trust 'philosophy' (03/20)
Interior opposes oversight in energy bill (03/20)