Could renewable energy development on American Indian Reservations alleviate poverty? This Article combines data on wind and solar endowments, reservation characteristics and utility-scale renewable energy projects to offer three insights. First, the colonial process of reservation creation that intentionally deprived tribes of other natural resources unintentionally left them with favourable wind and solar, especially on reservations with the lowest-income populations. Second, despite favourable endowments, renewable projects are rare: reservation lands are 46% less likely to host wind farms and 110% less likely to host solar than comparable adjacent lands. Third, if this disparity persists, tribes may forgo over US$19 billion in lease and tax earnings that could be accrued under forecasts of renewable energy demand through 2050. We highlight barriers—such as regulatory complexity and uncertainty—that help explain this disparity and emphasize this is not a call to impose federal energy priorities on unwilling tribes.

美洲印第安人保留地的可再生能源开发能否减轻贫困？本文结合了风能和太阳能资源、储备特征和公用事业规模可再生能源项目的数据，提供了三点见解。首先，殖民地创建保留地的过程故意剥夺了部落的其他自然资源，无意中却给他们留下了有利的风能和太阳能，特别是在收入最低的保留地。其次，尽管拥有有利的禀赋，可再生能源项目却很少：与邻近土地相比，保留地建设风电场的可能性要低 46%，建设太阳能项目的可能性要低 110%。第三，如果这种差异持续存在，部落可能会放弃超过 190 亿美元的租赁和税收收入，这些收入根据到 2050 年可再生能源需求的预测可能会累积。我们强调了有助于解释这种差异的障碍，例如监管复杂性和不确定性，并强调这并不是呼吁将联邦能源优先事项强加给不情愿的部落。