March/April

Indian Country represents a unique point of nexus between federal interests, the marketplace, and a new frontier poised to host the growth of infrastructure needed for sustainable energy while also supporting growing tribal populations, regional economies, and the national interest. Indian tribes are ready for “nation building at home” by investing, developing, facilitating, and participating in building the infrastructure required to support green energy.

In an examination of current regulatory models in tribal environmental programs, do the regulations meet standards of tribal sovereignty that are designed to protect tribal cultures and lifeways? This article aims to call attention to what many tribal lawyers and environmental managers already know—that we must be diligent defenders not only of tribes’ legal and juridical control over environmental regulations but also the forms of this control.

This commentary continues the dialogue about the Roberts Court and poses the question of whether a more concrete profile of Chief Justice Roberts is emerging—especially in relation to his jurisprudence dealing with Indian law.