The Navajo Nation has been in talks for nearly two years with Boston-based Citizens Energy Corp. to develop 500MW of wind energy on the Nation's lands in the Southwest, and it looks as if an agreement has been reached today.

After years of fighting to build a new coal-fired plant near Farmington, New Mexico, the tribe appears to have seen the green light and will install wind generation fields on the windy mesas north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Three hundred turbines will be installed, producing energy sufficient to power 100,000 homes. The wind farm would be the first in Arizona.

We can't help but find it appropriate that a people so affected by another form of energy development -- uranium mining on their reservation has caused public health issues among tribespeople for years -- has chosen to pursue another, greener, path. While the coal-burning plant is still on the table, we still congratulate the tribe on its pursuit of green energy, and encourage it to keep pushing for new green development.

The Navajo Nation is superbly located for solar, geothermal, and wind development, and developing these alternative energy sources could bring sorely needed funds into the Nation to support clean water, education, and environmental protection.