A prominent advocate for indigenous rights in Canada sees promise in clean energy.

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The Canadian province of Alberta is home to the Oil Sands, a vast subarctic region that is rich in crude oil, and which has been a focus of controversy for decades over the environmental and climate impacts of the fossil fuel mining that takes place there.

Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a prominent indigenous rights advocate and member of the Lubicon Cree Nation, discusses her community’s ongoing struggle to overcome the impact of environmental, health and cultural damage from surrounding Oil Sands development, and the potential for clean energy to empower First Nation communities.

Melina Laboucan-Massimo has for more than a decade been an activist on behalf of indigenous communities that have been impacted by the development of fossil fuels. Her television program, Power to the People, explores the role that clean energy is playing in building energy independence among First Nation communities. Melina is the co-founder of Indigenous Climate Action, a Climate Fellow at the David Suzuki Foundation, and the founder of Sacred Earth Solar. 

Related Content

Renewable Energy and Indigenous Communities

https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/events/renewable-energy-and-indigenous-communities/

Barriers to Energy Efficiency Adoption in Low-Income Communities

https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/research/publications/barriers-to-energy-efficiency-adoption-in-low-income-communities/

 

Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

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