Cherokee Nation Reaches $80 Million Settlement With U.S. Government
The Cherokee Nation has reached a multi-million dollar settlement with the federal government for mismanaging its resources in the past.
The $80 million settlement is the largest in Cherokee Nation history, and stems from the federal government’s role in misplacing and misusing tribal resources during the 20th century.
Cherokee Nation officials have proposed to use the money to build a tribal justice center.
The potential complex will house the Supreme Court, a district court, the tribe’s attorney general and various law-related offices to mitigate the influx of criminal cases post-McGirt.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said the settlement funds will allow the tribe to turn an injustice into something that serves the tribe.
“We're turning it into an investment into our own justice system that we can be proud of. I mean, what we're going to construct will really serve generations of Cherokees in a system that they're going to be counting on,” Hoskin Jr. said.
The Cherokee Nation Council will consider the project later this month.
Oklahomans Involved in January 6 Capitol Riot Get Pardons
The pardons for the January 6th Capitol riot include 13 people from Oklahoma.
Their criminal charges included entering and remaining in a restricted building or ground, attempted destruction of government property, acts of physical violence and civil disorder.
Some had already served sentences or made restitution. Others were awaiting sentencing or trial.
President Donald Trump signed the order for the pardons yesterday on his first day in office.
Oklahoma Sues Environmental Protection Agency Over Emissions Tax
State Attorney General Gentner Drummond joined a lawsuit alongside 22 other states over a methane rule
A rule known as the Waste Emissions Charge, planned by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), would require oil and gas companies to pay a fine after exceeding a certain amount of methane emissions. The measure was embedded in the Clean Air Act.
Attorney General Drummond joined a coalition in a lawsuit filed in January against the Biden administration in its final days, stating the rule exceeds the agency’s authority.
“This unlawful and egregious tax is a last-ditch effort by the Biden Administration to once again attack our oil and gas industry,” Drummond said in a news release. “We must put an end to these antics once and for all.”
Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, contributes to climate change by trapping heat in the atmosphere. Like carbon dioxide, the gas comes from natural and human activities, though 60% is from industries like oil and gas, NASA scientists estimate.
Concentrations of methane account for more than 20% of the earth’s climate warming, the administration states.
Companies that emit more than their allotted amount would be fined $900 per metric ton, based on reported emissions in 2024. That number would jump to $1,200 in 2025 and $1,500 in 2026.
Kara-Joy McKee, the director of Oklahoma’s Sierra Club chapter, disagreed with the opposition to the filing, saying it makes sense for oil and gas companies to pay for contributing to climate change.
“Here we have oil and gas making record profits, and methane is the low-hanging fruit when it comes to climate change,” she said. “That's something we can clean up relatively inexpensively. And it's the kind of thing where we can expect an industry to be a good neighbor.”
“These are our friends and family in Oklahoma who work for oil and gas, and they can chip in to clean up their own mess,” she added.
It is unclear how long a review of the law would take or if President Donald Trump’s administration plans to weaken the rules.
Lawmakers Propose Bills to Address Water Conservation Amid Ongoing Drought
Over the past month of bill filing, lawmakers have introduced measures that would aim to conserve Oklahoma’s water resources.
Much of Oklahoma has dipped in and out of severe drought over the last several years, and a handful of bills aim to address or prevent water scarcity.
Senate Bill 259 by Altus Republican Brent Howard would require commercial entities (including farmers and ranchers) to meter how much water they pull from Oklahoma’s aquifers.
Last year, a similar bill passed both chambers but was vetoed by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Pollard Republican George Burns’s Senate Bill 133 would pause new permits to use groundwater for commercial purposes.
New permits could be issued for a groundwater basin once the Oklahoma Water Resources Board completes a study on how much water use the aquifer can sustain.
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