Cherokee Nation Celebrates Earth Day with Executive Order | News
TAHLEQUAH – On April 21, during Cherokee Nation’s Earth Day celebration, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. signed an executive order outlining the tribe’s initiatives to address environmental sustainability.
One of the efforts the executive order focuses on is how the Cherokee Nation plans to elimante polystyrene foam used in foodware containers.
Other focus areas of the order include identifying ways to reduce paper and printing resources and establishing a food waste management task force to help promote food security within the reservation.
Last year, during the 2024 Earth Day celebration, the Cherokee Nation established a Clean Energy and Environmental Task Force. This year, the task force released a report highlighting the Cherokee Nation’s progress and future sustainability plans.
During Cherokee Nation’s Earth Day celebration, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. signed an exeutive order outlining the tribe’s initiatives to address environmental sustainability.
“Today was really celebratory, but we’re also confronting the facts and the truth,” Hoskin said. “The truth is we are not on a sustainable path as a planet. Man-made climate change is a real issue, and if we don’t make some decisions collectively as humanity today, it’ll be too late by the end of this century. We’re doing our part – that’s what today is really about.”
Cherokee Nation Secretary of Natural Resources Christina Justice leads the Clean Energy and Environmental Task Force.
“Today we took steps to improve our environmental stature across the nation,” Justice said. “One of the ways we’ve done that is by reducing polystyrene because that is a product that does not degrade in the natural environment, and it’s not recyclable. To eliminate that from our business operations is a step that we can take that’s relatively easy and will make a huge difference in the long run.”
CN Deputy Chief Bryan Warner, left, Tulsa’s Director of Tribal Policy and Partnerships Amanda Swope , CN Deputy Secretary of State Cannan Duncan and Principal Chief Churck Hoskin Jr hold reusable cups from the Cherokee Nation.
“It’s important that we constantly take steps to improve our environment and the health of our citizens and future generations,” Justice continued. “We’re taking those steps by eliminating plastic last year, by furthering those endeavors this year, by forming a task force to look at our operations and make sure that we are conducting business in a sustainable way. We have that responsibility because we’re one of the largest employers in the state of Oklahoma.”
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