A Brief History of the Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Tribal Working Group

In December 2019, FECM and the Utah Governor’s Office co-hosted a meeting of western tribal nations that have fossil resources on their land. The purpose of the meeting was to seek to better understand the challenges being faced by these tribal entities, and then seek to assist them in their management of their fossil assets. Drawing on the principles and experience of evolving regional “Rapid Response Teams” that facilitate joint Federal, Tribal, State and local action on behalf of Tribal and local communities, this workshop aimed to help Tribal leaders explore specific opportunities to develop clean energy and critical minerals projects and initiatives, as well as build relationships and partnerships with U.S. DOE National Labs and others to help them begin to implement such efforts. 

This first meeting took place in Moab, Utah over a three-day period and the discussions were detailed and helpful. As many as 24 tribes were in attendance at the first meeting, and some of the tribes sent multiple members. Total attendance exceeded 200. The meeting was convened by the United States Energy Association (USEA) which served as a resource, by assembling energy stakeholders to share policy, scientific, and technological information and foster the advancement of the entire energy sector.  At the conclusion of the meeting, Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steve Winberg pledged that his office would convene follow-on meetings at least every 4-6 months or so to keep the group engaged and to make progress on the issues raised. Unfortunately, the next meeting, planned for April 2020 was upended by the COVID crisis, and DOE passed a policy that prevented DOE employees from meeting in person at conferences for the next two years. During that period, there was also a change in Administrations from President Trump to President Biden. 

New leadership at DOE was also installed, as Brad Crabtree became the new Assistant Secretary of the Office of Fossil Energy, which underwent a name change to the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. When Brad learned of the effort to assist the tribes, he eagerly approved measures to continue and reinitiate the dialogues and meetings. Since then, several meetings have been planned and executed, each one being focused on a different purpose. For example, the third meeting in Moab, Utah was focused on linking tribes up with National Labs that have resources that can help meet their needs. In parallel with the meetings having themes, one suggestion and initiative continued to come up repeatedly, the tribes wanted help forming a “Tribal Working Group” to more easily facilitate workflow and help on the initiatives we would be working on together. 

After many months of work by many people, a charter for the working group was created, discussed, edited, and eventually approved. In order to stand up the working group, each tribe needed to appoint an “official representative” to the group.  Tribal representatives began to be officially named in early 2024, and the Working Group was officially formed in October 2024. The representatives of the Working Group elected their own leadership in late November 2024.  The Working Group now stands as a significant vehicle for tribes to play an important role in advising the US Government, and for DOE to assist the tribes in ways that mutually benefit all parties.