The University of Oklahoma hosted an Oklahoma Tribal Clean Energy Summit and Symposium on September 27-29, 2023. The events were convened by Oklahoma State Senator Mary Boren (SD 16, Norman) in partnership with the OU Office of the Associate Vice President for Tribal Relations, the OU Native Nations Center (NNC), and the OU Institute for Resilient Environmental and Energy Systems (IREES). The events were designed to continue the momentum generated by Department of Energy Secretary Granholm's visit to campus this past April at which tribal leaders discussed energy sovereignty and OU faculty highlighted their geothermal energy expertise.
Through breakout sessions and panels of experts, the Tribal Clean Energy Summit and Symposium explored opportunities for tribes to harness clean energy to enhance energy sovereignty, address climate resilience, and build stronger economies. The events also highlighted OU's broad and deep expertise across the clean energy space with poster sessions, tours of clean energy laboratories at OU, one-on-one engagement, and networking events with the tribal representatives.
“Bringing together tribal officials from across Oklahoma, the Tribal Clean Energy Summit celebrated innovation and sustainability by providing a space for tribes to access information on federal funding efforts and OU energy experts,” Tana Fitzpatrick (Crow Tribe of Montana), associate vice president of tribal relations and NNC director, said. “OU’s Native Nations Center, in collaboration with OU’s Institute for Resilient Environmental and Energy Systems, gladly supported Senator Boren’s efforts to bring light to these important issues and to convene tribal, federal, academic, and corporate interests around clean energy.”
At the Summit and Symposium, over 25 OU faculty and students presented posters on clean energy technologies, examples of existing OU-tribal nation energy partnerships, and perspectives on co-creation of energy solutions. “Events such as this help to create the working space and relationships that can make for long-lived and meaningful partnerships to address systemic and technical barriers to Tribal energy sovereignty.” Tim Filley, Executive Director, IREES, said. “We are honored to participate in this step forward in the transition to clean and reliable energy for the tribal nations in Oklahoma.”
“The large investment of federal funds for tribal clean energy projects is a tremendous opportunity for Oklahoma to reduce our carbon footprint and prepare our workforce to transition into a new energy economy. Oklahoma’s first Tribal Clean Energy Summit recognized tribal leaders as essential for Oklahoma’s success in the emerging clean energy economy,” Sen. Mary Boren, said. “Keynote speakers, panelists, sponsors, and poster presenters were given a rare opportunity during the summit to communicate directly with tribal leaders to better understand and support their energy plans. Having so many people show up at the summit who were willing to collaborate and cast a vision to expand clean energy in Oklahoma was inspiring. I am deeply grateful for all those who sponsored Oklahoma’s first Tribal Clean Energy Summit and contributed to making it a meaningful and informative summit.”
Representative Amanda Swope, vice-chair of Native Caucus and citizen of Muscogee (Creek) Nation, added, “The Tribal Clean Energy Summit was a great opportunity for stakeholders from all areas and industries to learn and discuss how to work together to support clean energy initiatives in Oklahoma. It provided tribal leaders with information on how to allocate and remain competitive for Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding and how community interests can work with tribes to carry out projects in a way that benefits all Oklahomans.”
