In the Tideflats of Tacoma, Washington, beyond the masts of sailboats anchored in the Puyallup Tribe’s marina, pipelines emerge from the earth and snake their way inland. Their destination — an 8 million-gallon liquefied methane gas tank — was once considered by politicians to be the logical answer to the climate crisis. Now, it’s the center of a local controversy with international implications. The subsequent fight against the tank illustrates the critical place Indigenous sovereignty holds at the intersection of human rights and climate change. On Nov. 19, 2021, the state’s Pollution Control Hearings Board affirmed the issuance of the final permits necessary, which require PSE to monitor sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compound emissions. The Puyallup Tribe and a coalition of environmental groups represented by EarthJustice immediately appealed, arguing that the facility and its associated operations would hamper decarbonization at a life-or-death moment for the planet. They were joined by some unlikely allies: immigration advocates, who fear that it would endanger detainees in the nearby Northwest ICE Processing Center, and pensioners from Canada, who object to having their retirement funds used to help pay for the tank. The opposition, like the tank itself, is both unique and common, normal but not. Given the kind of climate solutions likely to be offered by settler-colonial institutions, it might be a glimpse of the future.

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