Oil and gas development on Indian lands in the U.S. could move forward unimpeded by environmental concerns if Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) gets his way. The only Native American in the Senate, Campbell wants to exempt energy projects on Indian lands from federal environmental regulation — and as chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, he’s in a position to get what he wants. Campbell is pitching his plan as a way to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and boost economic self-sufficiency of tribes, but even some of the tribal members he says he wants to help have voiced opposition to his plan. Oil and gas companies were Campbell’s biggest campaign contributors from 1997 to 2002.
