Take Action! Changes to NEPA proposed by Forest Service and Trump Admin would end public involvement and oversight
Comments needed by August 12th!
The United States Forest Service and Trump administration have put forward a dangerous new proposal to end longstanding requirements that the Forest Service notify the public, allow for public comment, and analyze environmental impacts when approving logging, road building, pipeline construction, and other activities on 193 million acres of national forest lands across the country. Comments on the proposal are due by August 12, 2019.
The Southern Environmental Law Center, a Sierra Club partner, has created a comment portal at OurForestsOurVoice.org. A great resource for info and talking points is Tennessee Heartwood's website. In addition to leaving a comment, contact your Congress person to make your opposition clear. If you need to find out who your Congress person is, enter your zip code here.
For national coverage, see articles in The Hill and NPR (audio available).
Bristol, Tenn. company fined $200k for polluting creek
By Leif Greiss, Bristol Herald Courier, published July 23, 2019
Necessary Oil Co. in Bristol has been slapped with a fine of more than $200,000 by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for polluting Cedar Creek, which the company’s owner said Tuesday is the result of miscommunication within TDEC and a general misunderstanding.
On July 10, TDEC Commissioner David Salyers ordered the company to pay $197,800 as a civil penalty and $5,332 in damages to the Division of Water Resources for multiple discharges of pollutants throughout 2018 into Cedar Creek — that at one point resulted in a fish kill — as well as for not acquiring required stormwater permits.
However, Mark Byington, president and owner of Necessary Oil, a business on Georgia Avenue that treats used oil and stormwater, disputes that he and his business did not comply with TDEC to the best of their abilities. He said he made the necessary efforts to stop the pollution of the creek and TDEC had not communicated with him for more than a year when he received the order.
“I was blindsided,” Byington said. “They said they would get back with us, and they did not get back with us until we got the letter.”
The voices of neighbors and their elected officials are rising with a united message to TVA about the soon-to-be-retired Bull Run Coal Plant: Get your ash out, and give us a clean, fully-restored site.
Since Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM), Sierra Club, and Appalachian Voices organized the first Bull Run closure community meeting in April, concerned citizens and Anderson County Commissioners have learned about Bull Run’s toxic coal ash from groundwater contamination experts, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) officials.
TVA’s new CEO, Jeff Lyash, attended the community meeting on June 17 and said, “I’m determined TVA will set the industry standard” on coal ash, working “transparently and openly and in collaboration with the communities that we serve.”
TVA held two open houses inviting comments on Bull Run. Our well-attended community meeting on July 9 solidified the community's resolve and prepared us for these. Jeff Lyash attended both open houses. He reached out, he listened - even to two incurably-ill Kingston spill cleanup workers and their distraught wives. I told him my community was uniquely strong, united, and informed, and that we would hold him to his promises.
But he would not say TVA would move Bull Run’s remaining wet fly ash away from our drinking water supply to dry, lined storage, as Sierra Club and most experts say they must, and as courts have ordered elsewhere.
Stepping into the sun: A mission to bring energy to communities of color
By Andrea Hsu, Nashville Public Radio, published July 24, 2019
A few years ago, Jason Carney came across a statistic that took him by surprise.
In its 2015 survey of jobs in the solar industry, the nonprofit Solar Foundation reported that 0.0% of solar workers in the state of Tennessee were black or African American.
That number caught Carney's eye because the Nashville native is African American — and was working there as a solar installer in 2015. In fact, he was starting to design a solar array for his own home in north Nashville. Clearly, there had been an undercount.
But, he thought, maybe not by much. Throughout his career, Carney, 39, has frequently been the only person of color in the room. It was true when he worked in the heating and cooling industry, and it remained true as his professional path led him into green building work and solar design.
"Going into [a] boardroom, I'm the only person of color. We go to these conferences, and I'm the only person of color. We go to the U.S. Green Building Council — the local chapter — and of 200 people, it might be me and maybe one other person of color," he says. "It was very intimidating."
Jason Carney designed and installed the solar array on the roof of his house in Nashville. He wants to introduce more people in minority communities to the advantages of solar energy. Photo by Tamara Reynolds for NPR.
As hot as July’s heatwave was in the US, it could have been worse. By June, heatwaves had seared Australia, the US, Japan, India, Pakistan, and Europe. Then in late July, all-time records went up in smoke across Europe, where air conditioning is sparse. The 2003 European heatwave that killed 70,000 people taught governments to better protect citizens. But in cities like Paris, which hit an unprecedented 108.7 °F, radiating urban heat islands can keep it too hot even at night for the vulnerable to recover.
The bad news is: climate change will keep increasing the frequency and intensity of heatwaves (see chart below). In the hottest places, where billions across the world live without air conditioning, heat indexes may rise to lethal levels off that chart by century’s end.
June was the hottest June ever. July will likely be the hottest month ever.
The good news is, ever more extreme heatwaves, flooding, wildfires, superstorms, droughts, and sea-level rise have made it clear that “natural cycles” is not the cause, despite what the fossil fuel industry claims. A rapidly increasing majority of Americans now recognize the threat of human-caused climate change - and believe our government should protect us from it.
With each year’s horrific weather, that majority will grow. Tell your lawmakers.
Both graphics below are adapted from the Climate Resiliency Project, a joint effort of the City of Knoxville Department of Sustainability and the Climate Change Science Institute, ORNL, by Todd Waterman
By Dennis Shekinah, Watauga Conservation Committee (edited)
The Watauga Lake Cleanup will be hosting the 10th annual cleanup on Saturday August 24th 9am-2pm. The Watauga Conservation Committee of the TN Sierra Club and Watauga Watershed Alliance, in cooperation with state agencies TVA and TWRA, hope to make this the most productive cleanup yet. All civic groups, businesses and individual citizens who benefit from Watauga Lake are encouraged to participate.
Watauga Lake is in East Tennessee, and registration sites will be located at Fish Springs Marina in Carter County and Sink Mountain Boat Ramp in Johnson County. Follow Watauga Lake Cleanup on Facebook for more information.
Energy Democracy Listening Tour launches in Tennessee
Beginning on August 3rd, several community organizations are launching an “Energy Democracy Listening Tour" in Memphis that will travel throughout the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) footprint. The tour will make stops in more than 10 locations and provide opportunities for community members to discuss the history and impacts of the TVA energy system, evaluate decision making, and invite attendees to build a vision for how our public power could better serve communities in the Valley. The free events will highlight stories of local energy reform efforts and feature film clips from The Electric Valley displayed on a solar film projector.
To find out where the tour is stopping near you, check out their website here for details.
Held on June 29, the Sing for the Climate Concert in Knoxville, TN showcased fabulous Appalachian musicians and brought together 18 local environmental and economic justice organizations to engage and inform the crowd. It was a low-waste event, with refillable bottles and water stations available. Mayoral candidates India Kincannon, Marshall Stair, Calvin Skinner and Fletcher Burkhardt as well as state representative Gloria Johnson all made an appearance.
The “ask” for this event was to encourage the audience to Vote Climate. This campaign will urge the candidates to develop an equitable, community-wide climate action plan at every level of government and reduce our community’s carbon emissions by half by 2030. Subsequent candidate forums were held in July, and we will continue to encourage leaders to adopt the Vote Climate platform and hold them accountable.
Maggie Longmire and the Free Soil Farm led the TN Valley Unitarian Universalist Choir in a powerful rendition of the Climate Song from Belgium, which begins, “We need to wake up, we need to wise up. We need to open up our eyes and do it NOW, NOW, NOW!" Photo by Todd Waterman.
Where: University of Tennessee College of Law, 1505 Cumberland Ave, Knoxville, TN 37996
Sponsored by UTK College of Law, Sierra Club, United Mountain Defense (UMD), and others, APIEL is unique in our region as an informal and lay-friendly opportunity to learn from and connect with environmental lawyers, leaders, and activists from all over the country - and it’s open to all. Two days of workshops are scheduled generally two at a time.
At APIEL 2018, Kentucky activists Davis Mounger and Jim Scheff wrap up their presentation, “Winning: It’s a thing. Strategies and stories from the front line of public lands defense.”
The conference features a series of workshops with the goal of exchanging information, sharing skills, and fostering collaboration between grassroots organizations, the bar, and future lawyers and policy-makers.
Register to attend, apply to present, and find more info at APIEL.org. Send questions and ideas about the conference to apiel.info@gmail.com
The summer retreat was so enjoyable and informative that we are already looking forward to the TN Chapter Fall Fun Retreat!
When: October 25 - 27, 2019 Where: Pickett State Park - Jamestown, TN What: socializing, campfires, stargazing, hikes, youth activities, silent auction to benefit the Chapter Defender Fund, live music, Outdoor Leader training, & more! Register here by Oct. 18th for discounted rate.
Are you a numbers-oriented person with a bit of free time? The TN Chapter is in need of a Vice-Treasurer, who will step up to Treasurer in 2021. Plenty of hands-on training can be provided. A bookkeeper does the major reports (Yay!). For more information, please contact Treasurer Alice Demetreon at Demetreon1981@gmail.com or call/text (660) 247-2288.
Call for Nominations for Chapter At Large Executive Committee
The Executive Committee (ExCom) is an important leadership group in the Tennessee Chapter. It sets strategic direction and budget, reaches consensus on conservation positions, raises money, appoints officers and committee chairs, and approves litigation and electoral endorsements.
This year, four of the seven members of the Chapter’s ExCom reach the end of their term. The Sierra Club democratically holds itself accountable to its membership, so we need good candidates to represent our members’ interests. The Chapter’s Nomination Committee is seeking candidates to run, so we’re looking to you to self-nominate or suggest nominees!
Candidates will provide a statement under 200 words to appear on the ballot. Winning candidates will begin their 2-year terms in January 2020. Please submit nominations by Tues. Sept. 10, 2019 to Ramie Bell at ramie.bell@gmail.com. Candidates will be considered for the ballot, which is published in the Nov/Dec edition of the Tennes-Sierran, our bi-monthly newspaper. Candidates may also get on the ballot by petition. More detail can be found on our website.
Ironweed is a hardy wildflower which blossoms mid to late summer and can grow quite tall (5-10 feet).
Notoriously strong-rooted (hence the name Ironweed), it is so hard to dig up that it is considered a weed by some farmers. Cows and others critters can't munch on the tough stems.
Cherokee Indians used certain species of Vernonia to treat pain (menstrual, afterbirth, stomach ulcers). Kiowa Indians used Vernonia missurica to treat dandruff.
Lee Russell, cofounder, Board member, and newsletter editor of Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, died on July 20. She built her career at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Her scientific research in mammalian genetics is world-renowned; she discovered that the presence of the Y-chromosome determines male sex and that only one of the X chromosomes is active in females.
Russell was a member of the National Academy of Science and received the US Department of Energy's highest research honor, the Enrico Fermi Award. Her leadership was instrumental in many conservation efforts across Tennessee. Those who worked with Lee admired her indomitable will, insatiable curiosity, and insistence on the facts. She was perceptive and sensitive, self-deprecating, and appreciative of small kindnesses. Lee Russell is remembered with fondness, respect, and gratitude for all she did.
Click here to read more or watch video coverage about the legacy of Dr. Liane Russell.
Since the Sierra Club's founding in 1892, the organization's logo has evolved many times. Two design elements that have stayed consistent are: circular shape and a single tree as the focal point. The Latin phrase on the original logo (pictured) means "I seek high places," referencing the rugged grandeur of mountainous exploration.
The present logo has been used since 2015, and was designed to be effective for digital media. Check out the full evolution of the logo here.
We are the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, the world’s oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization. With over 3.5 million members and supporters, the Sierra Club has the resources to empower people and to influence public policy through community activism, public education, lobbying, and litigation.
Our mission is to Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet.
