Kamala’s Green New Deal wreaks havoc on Native American jobs and families

By Jimrix Dabbs

Editor’s note: Jimrix Dabbs is from Jospeh City, Ariz.

The green energy transition, as envisioned in the Green New Deal, is not a victory if it leads to widespread unemployment, especially among Native American communities. Jobs like mine at the Joseph City Cholla Power plant, a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by the Arizona Public Service (APS), announced that it would shut down by April 2025 and laying off all its employees. And—this isn’t the only coal plant shutting down in Arizona. The Springerville Generating Station in Apache County has plans to close all four of its coal-fired power units over the next several years, and the Coronado Generating Station located in St. Johns is shutting down by 2032. What do these all have in common? Thousands of hardworking Natives – especially members of the Navajo Nation tribe like myself – have been kicked to the curb. Kamala Harris’ Green New Deal is not just killing American industry but wreaking havoc on Native American communities.

I have been a lifelong registered Democrat until this year. I have experienced firsthand what Kamala Harris’ energy policies do to hardworking Native American industrial base workers like me. I have worked at the Cholla coal-fired power plant for years and after APS announced the plant would be shut down, I was heartbroken, worried, and angry, because basic living expenses have become challenging enough to pay for in the last several years. My stable and well-paying job that supported my family evaporated quickly before my eyes. And I am only one person out of the hundreds to whom this has happened.

The reason for the Cholla plant closure was initially puzzling to me, given the fact that it had been in operation for over 70 years. However, the coal industry across Arizona—and the country—has been decimated because the Biden-Harris Administration decided to push the US toward embracing the Democrats’ Green New Deal agenda, meaning that states like Arizona have mimicked the federal government in terms of complying with their environmental rules.The Biden-Harris administration’s Green New Deal has driven the country to adopt new energy policies and transitions, often without sufficient preparation. As a result, states like Arizona have joined domestic coalitions, such as the U.S. Climate Alliance, initiated by several Democrat-leaning states, including California and New York, to encourage the adoption of these policies at the state level. Consequently, Arizona’s coal industry has been significantly affected, with major coal-fired power plants shutting down. Additionally, plants operated by companies like Tucson Electric Power have been pushed to transition to alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar.

This is completely backwards because the U.S. maintains some of the cleanest coal-fired power plants in the entire world. Sadly, the US will lose half of its coal-fired power capacity by 2026 because of this costly Green New Deal agenda. China, our number one enemy and national security threat, also part of the Paris Climate Accord, is not held to the same environmental standards, while politicians like Kamala Harris foolishly move forward with killing jobs like mine.

I am currently searching for a new job that suits the skills I worked hard to maintain throughout my career at the Cholla coal plant and am being forced to move my family elsewhere, potentially outside of my community. Kamala’s canceling of coal country in America is not just destroying livelihoods but will further raise energy costs for many native families, scatter our communities as workers scramble to find new jobs, and deny all Americans easy access to affordable electricity.

For these reasons, I am voting for President Donald J. Trump. He understands that economic security is national security and wants to return coal plants online. He will slash the burdensome Biden-Harris Green New Deal rules and regulations, which are crippling jobs and harming middle-class families, guarantee affordable energy for native communities, and ensure that America has the most robust and efficient domestic energy production in the entire world.