Fossil fuel projects threaten tribal lands

The Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas has lived along the South Texas Rio Grande delta for centuries. Fossil fuel companies are planning three projects that would trample on our sacred burial grounds and degrade the environment, but state law restricts our tribe from protecting the lands we have inhabited since time immemorial. The law largely prevents us from exercising our constitutional right to protest by imposing the threat of draconian fines and incarceration for acts of civil disobedience. We recently held a virtual tribunal to compile a detailed record of the harms posed by these projects.

The message from state policymakers is clear: It’s OK to break the law to open a hair salon during a pandemic, but if the rights of communities of color are violated, critics should stay in the shadows.

Fossil fuel companies have long desecrated sacred land and disregarded environmental protections. The three projects — Texas LNG, the Rio Grande LNG and Annova LNG, all natural gas export terminals to be built in Brownsville — are just a few of the latest attacks from fossil fuel companies on our communities.

One of the terminals — Texas LNG — would run through the Garcia Pasture — a sacred area to our tribe with honored burial sites and artifacts. The National Park Service noted that the site is “one of the premier prehistoric archaeological sites in Cameron County.” The pasture is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Our ancestors are buried there.

All three projects would also create significant environmental harms. They would threaten local wildlife, significantly degrade air quality during construction and increase greenhouse gas emissions, among other impacts. When the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission — the federal agency in charge of evaluating such projects — approved the plans, one of its members, Richard Glick, slammed the decision and stated that the assessment was “not the product of reasoned decision-making.” He lamented that the environmental impact assessments did not adequately consider the greenhouse gases that would be released. Local residents and environmental groups have also filed lawsuits against the projects citing potential pollution and danger to wildlife.

Despite all of this, the projects are chugging along. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued the project its air permit — meaning state regulators have deemed the project plan consistent with air quality regulations. That further clears the way for the project to move along.

Our tribe has been denied a voice in this fight. Even though we are truly indigenous to this part of Texas, our pleas are often ignored because we are not recognized at the federal level. Holding signs while standing on the sidewalk will not save our sacred lands. For our voices to be heard, for our constitutional right to free speech to be meaningful, our state must respect our right to protect our lands through bringing public attention to the human rights violations we’re facing. While all such acts come with risk, the consequences should not put this important tradition of seeking redress out of reach.

In June 2019, Texas lawmakers passed a bill imposing hefty fines on people who try to block or interrupt so-called “critical infrastructure.” People who attempt to block a pipeline construction site could be convicted of a felony and thrown in jail for two years and slapped with a $10,000 fine. Even entering a facility and intending to disrupt operations is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. Unsurprisingly, major fossil fuel companies spearheaded the charge to get this law on the books.

Let’s be clear: These laws are a corporate ploy to oppress and penalize those whose communities are at risk of being invaded and colonized by hazardous projects. Export terminals are simply not critical infrastructure; true critical infrastructure is the water, land, fire and one another. And the work of our tribe is not “protesting,” “interruption,” “blocking,” or “civil disobedience.” It’s protecting the land we’ve nurtured for centuries.

Across the country, fossil fuel companies are able to leverage their immense influence and money to trample the rights of indigenous groups. We mustn’t allow this to continue to happen. We’re fighting the gentrification of the human soul. Like other communities in the U.S., tribes deserve the right to self-determination, self-preservation and to stay in their communities without fear of land desecration or environmental damage.