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WHEREAS, we, the members of the National Congress of American Indians of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants the inherent sovereign rights of our Indian nations, rights secured under Indian treaties and agreements with the United States, and all other rights and benefits to which we are entitled under the laws and Constitution of the United States, to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise promote the health, safety and welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following resolution; and
WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was established in 1944 and is the oldest and largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Energy has promoted the use of electric vehicles and has made significant progress in making available the necessary infrastructure for electric vehicles; and
WHEREAS, Tribal lands are generally located in rural areas where electric vehicles are impractical; and
WHEREAS, Tribal transits have found electric vehicles for their bus fleets to be impractical now and in the foreseeable future and a cleaner less expensive option than gas or diesel is imperative; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Energy has distributed alternative fuel funds to Clean Cities Coalitions nationwide but have not supported awarding grants for compressed natural gas infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is a cleaner fuel, typically half the cost of diesel fuel, domestically available (with over a 100 year proven supply), providing the horsepower of gasoline and, as recent testing has shown, with better fuel economy than any other fuel.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NCAI does hereby encourage the U.S. Department of Energy to make CNG grants available for CNG in rural areas; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NCAI strongly encourages all Clean Cities Coalitions to make grants available for Compressed Natural Gas infrastructure and vehicle conversion kits to serve Indian Country; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.
CERTIFICATION
The foregoing resolution was adopted by the General Assembly at the 2012 Mid-Year Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at The Cornhusker Hotel from June 17-20, 2012 in Lincoln, Nebraska, with a quorum present.