Coal was once the dominant U.S. energy source, powering the country’s growth from the late 1800s into the 1950s. Although it has given way to cleaner, more efficient and more transportable fuels, President Donald Trump has been a vocal proponent of a coal revival. The Navajo Nation could be a central figure in coal’s comeback, but the tribe has a complicated history with the fossil fuel — while it has served as a crucial heating source and pillar of the local economy, it has also left a legacy of health and environmental devastation.
Join us Aug. 3 to hear from a panel of experts who will discuss the future of Navajo Coal Country. Among the topics will be a proposal from the tribally owned Navajo Transitional Energy Company to extend the life of a New Mexico coal mine — that helps power homes in Phoenix — by more than a century.
The free discussion will be moderated by Gabriel Pietrorazio, KJZZ senior field correspondent. RSVP to attend and submit your questions for the panel.
WHEN: 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 3, 2026
WHERE: Rio Conference Center, 2323 W. 14th St., Tempe, AZ
RSVP: https://support.fpraz.org/site/Calendar?id=100321&view=Detail
Meet the panelists
Karletta Chief is a Diné hydrologist and director of the University of Arizona’s Indigenous Resilience Center. She’s also an extension specialist in environment science at the land-grant university. Her scholarship focuses on water science and informing Indigenous communities in a culturally sensitive manner. Chief aims to facilitate efforts of university climate and environment researchers, faculty, staff and students working with Native Nations to build resilience to climate impacts and environmental challenges. She also leads the National Science Foundation’s Native FEWS Alliance and Indigenous Food, Energy, and Water Security and Sovereignty Program whose vision is to develop a diverse workforce with intercultural awareness and expertise in sustainable food, energy, and water systems [FEWS], specifically through off grid technologies to address the lack of safe water, energy, and food security in Indigenous communities.
Nicole Horseherder is Diné and from the Black Mesa region of the Navajo Nation. Nicole is one of the original founding members of the nonprofit Tó Nizhóní Ání and has been an active member since its establishment. Nicole is a graduate of the University of Arizona with a Bachelor's in Family and Consumer Resources. Nicole received her Master of Arts in Linguistics from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. Canada. Nicole began her work with Tó Nizhóní Ání as an outreach coordinator and interpreting hydrology and legal documents for Diné communities fighting coal-mine impacts. Today Nicole is leading efforts towards transition away from fossil fuel development in the Navajo Nation. Outside of Tó Nizhóní Ání, Nicole enjoys her time with family, horses, ceremonies, and traveling.
Robyn Jackson is executive director of the nonprofit Diné C.A.R.E. She is Tó’áhaní (Near the Water Clan) and grew up in the Chuska Mountains on the Navajo Nation. Her experience includes research, community organizing and organizational management in the areas of environmental health, forest conservation, sustainable food systems and renewable technologies in the Southwest.
Jackson's leadership centers Diné ancestral values of relationality and kinship with the natural world, honoring matriarchal strength and the Diné Philosophy of Life.
Alexander Osif is Navajo, Hopi and Pima, and from Kayenta, Arizona. He's with Canyonlands Healthcare at the Chilchinbeto Clinic in Chilchinbeto, Arizona, one of a dozen clinics serving Arizona and Nevada. Alex is the Black Lung case manager for Canyonlands Healthcare screening for coal miners' lung diseases. He's also a retired coal miner of 36 years and currently serving his third-term as president of United Mine Workers of America Local Union 1924. In this role, Alex works closely with the medical provider and care team as well as miners and other community members who have healthcare needs. Alex is committed to helping provide care for coal and uranium miners, and other community members while serving primarily Native American tribal communities across service areas in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona.
Clara Pratte is a nationally recognized energy leader, entrepreneur and Arizona-born member of the Navajo Nation with a career spanning more than 20 years of public service, entrepreneurship and innovative energy development. Pratte has worked under three U.S. presidents and four Navajo Nation presidents, including managing critical policy portfolios in economic development and tribal affairs in the U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S. Department of Commerce.
Today, she is a Flagstaff small business owner and entrepreneur who champions energy independence and jobs in tribal and rural communities. Pratte co-founded Navajo Power, a public-benefit corporation that develops large-scale energy projects on tribal lands, and owns Strongbow Strategies and Tseebii Sisters Coffee Company.
She is a 2026 candidate for the Arizona Corporation Commission, where her top priority will be lowering utility costs for Arizona families, seniors and veterans. Pratte grew up with no electricity or running water at home, so her campaign to oversee Arizona’s utilities is personal. If elected, she will be the first Native American to serve statewide in Arizona history.
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State environmental regulators have given the owner of a uranium mine near the Grand Canyon the green light for higher levels of arsenic in groundwater under the facility.
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Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores met with leaders from around the world to discuss legal personhood for rivers.
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Across tribal communities in northeastern Arizona, 1 in 3 homes does not have running water. But now, there’s a way to help fix that.
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Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are resisting the deal because it would allow the Navajo and Hopi to lease water to cities downstream, likely the growing towns around Phoenix.
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More than 56 million acres — nearly 3% of the U.S. landmass — belong to tribes. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has aided more than 47,000 projects, like parks and trails, in nearly every county nationwide.