Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Open Access Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental and Energy Policy (PhD)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Social Sciences
Advisor 1
Chelsea Schelly
Committee Member 1
Ana Dyreson
Committee Member 2
Roman Sidortsov
Committee Member 3
LouAnn Wurst
Abstract
This dissertation explores the potential of equitable energy transitions guided by the tenets of energy justice with a focus on Tribal energy sovereignty through renewable energy development. It contributes to the literature on the social acceptance of energy systems, public perceptions of renewable energy transitions, the ramifications of US federal Tribal law on Tribal energy development and sovereignty, and the implications of conforming to capitalist logics in the energy justice literature.
To understand the importance of building reciprocal and collaborative relationships, our team of researchers and Tribal members collaborated on the development of a methodology to survey respondents in a culturally appropriate forum to learn about Tribal perceptions of energy planning outside of typically rigid and hierarchal energy planning processes. The results demonstrate a desire to prioritize energy systems that protect the environment, decrease costs, and advance Tribal energy sovereignty. This methodology and resulting analyses reinforce the importance of collaboration, engagement, and transparency in the energy planning process to build trust and increase participation, leading to more authentic and informed decision making, to inform the development of values-based energy policies.
Through a legal analysis of US federal Tribal law using the divergent lenses of Western and Indigenous concepts of sovereignty, this work explores whether federal laws have supported or impeded Tribal energy development in ways that promote energy sovereignty. The impact of federal law on tribal energy sovereignty was analyzed in the context of de recto (by right), de facto (in fact), or de jure (by law) sovereignty, to identify whether and how federal policy has advanced or has the potential to advance Tribal sovereignty. This work also engages with the divergence between Western and Indigenous concepts of sovereignty. The research demonstrates the usefulness of the energy justice framework in guiding the development of values-based emancipatory policies that advance equitable energy transitions and Tribal energy sovereignty.
Finally, this work proposes an energy justice research agenda that asserts commodified energy as the root cause of injustices identified in the literature. Failure to acknowledge this assertion creates barriers to overcoming the obstacles to equitable energy transitions. This chapter asserts that decommodified energy should be considered a prerequisite to energy justice and that centering alternatives to capitalist logics, which include decommodification and post-growth models, can help energy justice scholars create alternate imaginaries outside of the capitalist agenda and overcome obstacles to equitable energy transitions.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Lee, Don, "OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO EQUITABLE ENERGY TRANSITIONS AND PROMOTING ENERGY SOVEREIGNTY FOR US TRIBAL NATIONS", Open Access Dissertation, Michigan Technological University, 2025.
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