The presidential election may be over (Donald Trump’s refusal to concede notwithstanding), but it's all eyes on Tennessee's neighbor as control of the US Senate hangs in the balance, pending the results of two runoff elections in Georgia. Early voting starts December 14, and Special Election Day is January 5, 2021. Reach out to your Georgia friends and young adults who may be newly eligible to vote. New voters can register before December 7th to vote in the runoff.
Georgia Runoff Election Dates Election: January 5 Voter Registration deadline: December 7 Early Voting Begins: December 14 Instructions for absentee ballot request
Political Updates
Sierra Student Coalition mobilizes for Youth Crew Up! It's no accident that young people showed up in huge numbers for this election. It's a testament to the amazing work young activists have been doing across the country. Ages 14-35 are invited to Youth Crew Up! on December 5 at 11 am PST/ 2 pm EST to continue the momentum. You'll hear from a panel of intergenerational activists from across the country and Puerto Rico, celebrate the SSC's highlights of 2020 and find out how to get involved with our rad community. RSVP here!
Despite no evidence of fraud, Lee, top Tennessee GOP officials decline to recognize Biden as president-elect. Governor Lee and other top Republicans in Tennessee echo Trump's position on the outcome of the election. Full article by Natalie Allison - Tennessean - Nov. 10, 2020.
Will Biden's 100% clean energy plan work? Look to TVA. "The Tennessee Valley Authority is likely to stay out of the political spotlight during the Biden administration, but the nation's largest public utility is poised to play an outsize role in pushing the president-elect's clean energy agenda." Read full article by Kristi Swartz - E&E News - Nov. 23, 2020.
Sierra Club spokespeople available to discuss Biden's climate mandate. President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris campaigned on the strongest climate action plan of any candidate in our history. When they won, they secured a decisive mandate for immediate executive action to tackle the climate crisis. Read the encouraging voter statistics in the recent press release - Nov. 20, 2020.
Senate passes the Veterans COMPACT Act. The COMPACT Act is a package of bills addressing veterans health and suicide prevention. One of those bills, the Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors Act, would lay the groundwork to provide critical therapeutic and healing benefits for veterans by making it easier for them to access a specific but powerful therapy — the healing power of nature. Read more by Rob Vessels, Sierra Club Senior Campaign Representative for Military Outdoors - Nov. 16, 2020.
Photo Courtesy of Military Outdoors.
What Might the Biden Era Bring?
By Todd Waterman, Harvey Broome Group [edited]
Americans narrowly elected Sierra Club-endorsed Democratic Nominees Joe Biden and Kamala Harris over Republican incumbents Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Many of you worked hard to make this victory for our future possible!
On climate, Biden campaigned on his $2 trillion Plan for Clean Energy and Environmental Justice, which incorporated input from Bernie Sanders and other climate progressives. Though Biden did not endorse the Green New Deal, his plan, if enacted, would be the most sweeping change in climate policy in U.S. history. Biden’s plan might be achievable should two U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia give the more climate-friendly Democrats a Senate majority. Without that majority, bipartisan (and thus more election-proof) climate legislation like fee and dividend carbon pricing might still be possible, though coal-friendly Republican Speaker Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has never allowed any climate legislation to come to a vote.
Even without Congress, Biden could fulfill his pledge to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord, and reinstate and strengthen the Clean Power Plan, CAFE vehicle mileage standards and other Obama administration regulations, though a more regulation-hostile Supreme Court could block those. Biden could also appoint from 2 to 6 of TVA’s nine Board members.
In Tennessee, Sierra Club-endorsed incumbents Cohen of Memphis and Cooper of Nashville were elected to a now-diminished Democratic majority in the House. While many climate-friendly candidates did not fare well in Tennessee, Marquita Bradshaw and other Club endorsees built crucial public support for sustainable climate policies which are already supported by a majority of Tennesseans.
Tennessee News
Tennessee solar farm to power Google data centers through TVA Green Invest program. "Last week, TVA announced two 100-megawatt solar farms are being built in the Tennessee Valley to supply renewable energy for Vanderbilt University in Nashville and Google data centers in Bridgeport, Alabama, and Clarksville, Tennessee." Read more by Dave Flessner - Times Free Press - Nov. 14, 2020.
Removing toxic coal ash from Allen Plant enters logistic phase. "The process of relocating toxic waste—about 3.5 million cubic yards of it—will soon begin at a Southwest Memphis industrial site. For the next month, the public can comment on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s coal ash removal plan that has local environmentalists demanding strong oversight." Read more by Katie Riordan - WKNO Radio - Nov. 18, 2020.
US Fish and Wildlife Service proposes to list the Sickle Darter as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. "The Sickle Darter is a small fish native to the upper Tennessee River drainage in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The species currently occupies six Tennessee River tributary systems in Tennessee and Virginia, but the Sickle Darter has disappeared from four other Tennessee River tributaries, including its only population in North Carolina (French Broad River). The Service completed a review of the best available science on the Sickle Darter, documented in a peer and partner-reviewed Species Status Assessment report. Habitat loss and water quality degradation from a variety of sources were cited as the primary threats to the species."
Mac Post Arboretum wins state award. "Named in honor of Mac Post, Tennessee Chapter chair of the Sierra Club, the arboretum is the result of years of effort to turn the wooded area behind the school into a school and community asset." The Tennessee Urban Forestry Council named it 2020 Arboretum of the Year. Full article by Betsy Pickle - KnoxTN Today - Nov. 6, 2020.
Mac Post and Kara Strouse at the award ceremony at Dogwood Elementary's Mac Post Arboretum. Photo by Betsy Pickle.
Racial Justice
Sign the Petition to Rename Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park. Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park in Benton County was named after a Confederate General notorious for being the first Grand Wizard of the KKK. There's still time to sign. Help us get to 5,000 signatures!
Car culture and systemic racism collide. Before the automobile became America's favored transportation, police officers had much less reason to interact with civilians. "Policing as we know it today, writes Sarah A. Seo in Policing the Open Road: How Cars Transformed American Freedom, arose largely in response to a need to regulate the bad driving that inevitably accompanied the widespread adoption of the automobile." And unfortunately, that increase in policing resulted in racial disparities. The Stanford Open Policing Project analyzed 100 million traffic stops from 2011 to 2018 and found clear evidence of racial discrimination. Read more by Paul Rauber - Sierra Magazine - Nov. 2, 2020.
Equity Alliance reacts to Biden administration's racial equality plan. The administration has four priorities when it comes to addressing systemic racism and economic inequality: it wants to increase resources for minority businesses, pass police reform legislation, reduce mass incarceration, and uplift Black and brown communities. Equity Alliance, a Nashville nonpartisan organization, shares thoughts about the Biden-Harris equity plan. Read more by Aaron Cantrell - WTVF News Channel 5 - Nov. 10, 2020.
COVID Resources
A season of good health — tips for the holidays in the pandemic. With holidays approaching, consider you and your family's risk factors and implement strategies for staying safe. Check out these ideas from Emerson Hospital in Massachusetts, and read Eartha's tips below in this month's Dear Eartha.
Vanderbilt study finds face masks matter a lot! "Tennessee counties that have not required wearing masks in public are on average seeing COVID-19 death rates double or more compared with those that instituted mandates, according to a report released Tuesday." Read more by Jonathan Matisse - Associated Press - Nov. 10, 2020.
Cumberland River Compact lessons for virtual learning. The Cumberland River Compact has launched a collection of science lesson plans specifically for virtual and hybrid learning. It has a variety of Tennessee-specific topics, like trees, aquatic ecosystems, and invasive species along with complementary learning activities on the page. Lessons are linked as Google Docs so you can easily modify and share the content with your students. Lessons include a Tennessee State Science Standard and many are interdisciplinary for math and ELA as well. Select student activity guides are also available in Spanish. Browse here.
Emerson Hospital offers useful tips for the holiday season - Nov. 6, 2020.
Sierra Club Ex-Com Voting Begins
Vote electronically or by paper ballot before Dec. 15th
It's time to cast your ballot for Chapter and Group Executive Committee members! Sierra Club members should have received the Nov/Dec issue of the Tennes-Sierran which contains paper ballots and biographies of each candidate. Members can mail in their paper ballot (must be received no later than Dec. 15) or vote electronically. For detailed instructions, see our helpful voting guide (linked below) on the Chapter website, including an instructional video about how to submit a paper ballot by our very own News Team Managing Editor, Sinclaire Sparkman! Voting began November 1st.
Important Note: The Sierra Club's Safety Management Team is requiring that we not hold in-person meetings until March 1, 2021. This means that the Winter Chapter Retreat formerly scheduled for Jan. 29-31 at Cedars of Lebanon State Park is canceled. The Chapter Ex-Com will meet virtually Jan. 30, 2021.
TN BIPOC in Environmental Careers panel discussion. Sponsored by the TN Environmental Education Association, this virtual field trip is for students and educators of all ages interested in green careers. It will feature narratives focusing on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) perspectives, with a Q&A afterwards. Free and limited to 100 spots. Monday Nov. 30 at 10:00 am Central. Register here.
Native flora to native fauna: how to convert your landscape. Bill Moll, curator of a beautiful 3 acre arboretum, will describe how you can transform your lifeless lawn into a living landscape. Bill will discuss evaluating your property, methods and resources, and useful tips. Join by Zoom on Mon, Nov. 30 at 7:00 ET.
PBS documentary 'Power Trip' available for free until Dec. 15. In this film, Property Brothers co-host Jonathan Scott travels across the country to find out why clean, renewable energy isn't available to everyone. Jonathan talks with farmers, coal workers, conservatives, Navajo Nation members, religious leaders, and politicians. Stream it on PBS (1 hr 23 min watch).
Beginning to Bird - Intro to Bird Watching. This nature walk (0.75 mile) will introduce bird enthusiasts ages 11 and up to bird watching in the Knoxville area. Event scheduled for Dec. 12, 8:00 – 10:00 am at Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville, TN. Must purchase ticket to attend.
Incorporating outdoor learning for teachers and educators. Presented by Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, this monthly zoom is an opportunity to network and share best practices about outdoor learning. Occurs 3rd Thursday of month, Dec. 17 at 4:30 - 6:00 pm. More info here.
Mini-documentary on TN's First Superfund Site. Watch Bard Cole's "Hollywood: Legacy of a Memphis Dump." The documentary is followed by panel discussion featuring Protect Our Aquifer's Jim Kovarik, University of Memphis’ Brian Waldron, Memphis City Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas, and Sierra Club’s Scott Banbury. Watch for free on Youtube (27 min watch).
CareNET meetings open to all. The CareNET group includes residents from Grainger, Greene, Hancock, and Hawkins counties. Next meetings will be held in Rogersville on December 3 and January 7 at 5:00 pm.
Some of the native flora found in Bill Moll's yard are pink muhly and thimbleweed.
Special Features
Dear Eartha: Advice from an Eco-Guru
Dear Eartha,
Mywife and I decided to keep our Thanksgiving celebration to just the two of us and our high school age daughter this year. Our son at college isn’t even coming home. But with December holidays coming up, do you have any advice for how to get together with more family? —A Cautious Dad
Dear Dad,
Here’s what I’ve been able to find that might help with your question. The basic safety measures are what Dr. Anthony Fauci has been saying all along: wear a mask, keep socially distant (yes, even in a house), and wash your hands. Other health measures include:
Stay at home if possible. If you must fly, read up on what the state you’re flying to requires, wear a mask always, and keep socially distant during your time in the airport.
Kids coming home from college should get an exit COVID test from their university and if they are infected, they should not return home for the holidays.
Limit your guest list to no more than six, and if your house is small perhaps knock that down to four guests.
If you live here in Tennessee where it may not be freezing over the holidays, consider spending most of your celebration time outdoors. Some families have purchased outdoor heaters and warm throws to cover up when outside. Sitting around a safe fire pit is also festive. If that’s not an option for your family, consider setting your HVAC to more vigorously circulate air and/or open windows. Wear sweaters and scarves. It’s just for a couple of hours after all!
Don’t mix households. When others from outside your family circle join in, chances for contracting the virus go up. I usually spend Thanksgiving with friends up north, but this year they asked me to stay home to prevent the spread of COVID. Right! It’s just one year.
If guests will be with you from outside your family circle, as awkward as this may feel, wear masks inside and outside at all times except, obviously, when eating or drinking. Think about eating off your laps in a large room with distance between you rather than around a table. And, sadly, no handshakes, hugs, or kisses. Save the mistletoe for next year!
We can all be merry – smiles show in our eyes, after all – knowing we are protecting our loved ones and being protected in return. We can still decorate and cook but, for this one year, enjoy a more intimate family circle. Light a candle, cook a special dish, create a new “pandemic ritual” – and know, deep down, this, too, shall pass.
Happy holidays everyone, Eartha
Dear Eartha is penned by Rita Bullinger. Got an environmental query for Eartha? Submit your question to "Dear Eartha" via Enews.SierraTN@gmail.com
Species Spotlight
This month's featured species is: Nandina (Nandina domestica)
Nandina is photographed in front of Bull Run coal plant, Nov. 21, 2020. Nandina berries actually contain cyogenic compounds that are toxic to birds. Learnmore about nandina toxicity from the Audubon Societyand read the cited report published by the University of Georgia, College of Veterinary Medicine. Photo by Todd Waterman.
Nandina domestica is considered a noxious, invasive weed that is native to Japan, China, and India. Its tasty-looking berries are in fact toxic to birds and animals.
Sometimes called heavenly bamboo (no relation to bamboo shoots), nandina is an evergreen, perennial shrub that comes in regular or dwarf sizes and sports lance-shaped leaves.
Some varieties have bright red berries, while others have yellowish berries that persist throughout winter. If you lack the motivation to dig up the nandinas from your yard, just snip off the branches that are berry-laden so that birds won’t get poisoned by eating them. They make lovely additions to holiday greenery arrangements indoors (just keep the pets away).
Good native-plant alternatives to nandina include: winterberry, American beautyberry, or hearts-a-bustin (Euonymus americanus).
Volunteer Opportunities
Defenders Program Volunteer
The Tennessee Chapter lobbyist represents our environmental interests and our lobbying program in the Tennessee State Legislature. His salary needs to be funded. We need someone to take over fundraising for the Sierra Club Defenders of Tennessee. The work is seasonal, light, and can all be done from home. If you have some facility for writing and are interested in the position, please contact Sherry Loller for more information at sherryloller@hotmail.com or 615-889-2968.
E-news Editor Wanted
Harvey Broome Group (HBG) seeks a journalism-minded volunteer to fill the critical role of E-news Editor. If you have an interest in communications, here is your opportunity to "put your stamp" on a monthly electronic newsletter. The Harvey Broome Group e-news is intended to highlight events going on in the arenas of social justice, environmental justice, and the environment. HBG includes an 18-county region in the Knoxville area. It began its monthly e-newsletter in early 2011 and has continued without interruption to the present. We currently use the Salesforce Marketing Cloud platform for publication and distribution to over 7,000 Sierra Club members and supporters. Learn more here.
Paperless Delivery
Are you a Sierra member who has been receiving our bi-monthly print publication, the Tennes-Sierran? You can now opt out of getting a paper copy of the newspaper and instead receive it digitally as an email attachment. To request paperless delivery, open this form to make your request.
Contact Us
Do you have a program or speaker idea for your Group? An issue you're particularly passionate about? Do you have a story idea for the Tennes-Sierran or the e-newsletter? Let us know! Look through our past programs for inspiration.
We are the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, the world’s oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization. With over 3.8 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.
