By Groundswell Films
Published: March 1, 2010
Published: March 1, 2010
Lorenzo Begay (the narrator of “The Return of Navajo Boy“) and his wife, Mary, have a gift shop in Monument Valley. In this video, Mary can be seen selling DVDs to tourists.
Hello Mary, My son Christopher and I were touring Monument Valley and at your store the week before Thanksgiving. I spoke with you about my Abandoned Mine Reclamation job with UTAH Oil, Gas and Mining many years ago. I work in WI. I receive a newsletter from “BIONEERS” and a recent issue had this summary in it. I thought you’d be interested in it (if you haven’t seen it already). Sally K.
Dreaming New Mexico To Work With Google Earth Outreach Team
With support from Google Inc. Charitable Giving Fund at the Tides Foundation, Bioneers’ Dreaming New Mexico project and New Energy Economy, our primary local partner on the Age of Renewables work, are collaborating on a project that will center on indigenous clean energy mapping in Navajo Nation. We will additionally jointly produce a short film, directed by Emmy Award-winning cinematographer Doug Crawford, that tells the story of the historic opportunity for Navajo Nation to act as a national and global leader in the transition to clean energy.
With project participation from Google Earth Outreach (GEO) founder Rebecca Moore and the GEO team, the project will use state-of-the-art Google Earth technology to map and visualize the existing renewable energy sites in Navajo Nation and then visualize the Nation’s vast potential of solar energy. The Navajo Nation, spanning the Four Corners region of New Mexico and Arizona, can potentially provide enough concentrated solar energy to power the entire U.S. electricity grid. Such a transition would rapidly hasten the end of coal in the region, where two of the top 50 most polluting coal plants in the country are located.
New Energy Economy, which works closely with Navajo communities and tribal clean energy advocates, will use the Google Earth mapping and film to build awareness of the existence and scope of these sites. Because jurisdiction or “ownership” of the projects is fragmented, this visualization is anticipated to have a powerful educational and cultural influence on continuing to advance the adoption of renewable energy in Navajo Nation. These visualizations will be included in the short film and will be used to inform and educate Navajo communities and Tribal Council leaders about the benefits of clean energy and green jobs in an area that has an unemployment rate above 50 percent.
Google Earth Outreach will also conduct trainings in the visualization mapping technology for Navajo and other local indigenous people, especially youth. These trainings will enhance the tribe’s capacity to move towards a thriving clean energy economy.
This grant builds on a prior Google.org grant to Dreaming New Mexico in which Rebecca Moore and the Google Earth Outreach team provided technical support to visualize clean energy transmission lines and other key features in the Four Corners region of New Mexico. Rebecca will give her second keynote at the Bioneers conference in October 2011.
Bioneers and Dreaming New Mexico are honored to be part of this vitally important and dynamic project. We honor our esteemed partner New Energy Economy, whose exceptional efforts resulted in 2010 in New Mexico’s becoming one of three states instituting carbon caps and reductions in coming years.