OPINION: TVA should stop getting breaks from the federal government and stop polluting. "Late last August, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rollback of standards adopted in 2015 that would keep some of the nation’s biggest industrial polluters – coal-burning power plants – from dumping harmful toxic pollution into the nation’s waterways. Sadly, this decision will have an outsized and lasting effect on the health and safety of all Tennesseans ... Following the Kingston coal ash disaster, TVA committed to dry processing its coal ash waste. Although TVA is still working toward that goal, large quantities of toxic pollutants are still getting into our waterways." Read more by JoAnn McIntosh (Sierra Club Conservation Committee Chair, Clarksville-Montgomery County) - Tennessean - Nov. 28, 2020.
Take action! Sign petition to TDEC: Keep coal ash workers and nearby communities safe. December 22 was the 12-year anniversary of the Kingston Coal Ash Spill. Join us in telling TDEC to require TVA to implement clear, enforceable worker safety measures, so what happened at Kingston won't happen to anyone else.
Jason Carney is a solar evangelist. "I own my own company. I install solar systems and do weatherization. But I'm one of the few African Americans who do this. The Solar Foundation reported that zero percent of the solar workforce in Tennessee was African American in 2015. That jumped to 7 percent of the workforce in 2019... Blacks are about 17 percent of Tennessee's population, so we're underrepresented in the state's solar industry." Read more by Jason Carney & Naomi Snyder - Sierra - Jan. 1, 2021.
OPINION: Tennessee's environment faces growing threats. Here is how you can help. “Fifty years ago, a diverse group of organizations across Tennessee came together with a common purpose: protecting our landscape and environment for the next generation of Tennesseans. In the decades since, the Tennessee Environmental Council has helped protect the Great Smoky Mountains, cleaned up the Pigeon River, and reduced pollution from coal-fired power plants ... As we look ahead to our next 50 years, it’s going to take a combination of individual actions, corporate responsibility, and policies from our state and local governments to meet the challenges." Read more by Jeffrey Barrie, Guest Columnist - Tennessean - Dec. 9, 2020.
Sierra Club encouraged by new TVA initiative to increase electric vehicle adoption. "Today, the Sierra Club announced its support for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announcement that it will be taking steps to promote the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) throughout its seven-state service region." Read full press release - Dec. 15, 2020.
'163 Tennessee & Me' is a year-long campaign to bring awareness to the 163 Threatened and Endangered Species listed in Tennessee and to promote progressive actions for their survival. Follow on FB for updates and meeting information.
The Whooping Crane is one of 163 species listed in Tennessee that are either endangered or threatened. The bird was on the brink of extinction in the 1940s, but they have survived due to strict protection. Whooping cranes are the tallest bird native to North America and can live up to 24 years. Photo: Krabben Hoft / Audubon Photography Awards.
Political Updates
Following the elections, Beyond Coal Tennessee looks forward. "The Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in Tennessee is ready to replace TVA’s coal plants with clean renewable energy and better energy efficiency in 2021. Here’s a summary of what’s been happening in the electric sector and what lies ahead for our work. As we close out 2020 and look ahead to 2021, I want to share some of the top trends in the power sector from my role as the representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in Tennessee." Read full article on TN Chapter Blogby Jonathan Levenshus, Director of Federal Campaigns, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign.
Bipartisan backing for climate change legislation included with COVID relief. "The bipartisan Covid-19 relief bill that President Donald Trump signed on Sunday includes legislation to fund investments in clean energy technologies and regulate climate-warming greenhouse gases — a step that offers some hope for the bigger climate ambitions of President-elect Joe Biden." Read more by Lucas Thompson - NBC News - Dec. 28, 2020.
Tracking the Trump Administration’s midnight regulations. ProPublica is tracking some of the most consequential and controversial policy changes the Trump Administration is implementing in its final days. The outgoing administration is rushing to implement dozens of proposals before Biden takes office on Jan. 20. Follow the regulatory changes here (updated regularly).
Honoring Kingston Survivors: “We Say Never Again!”
Twelve years after the Kingston coal ash spill, dark days for cast-off cleanup workers and families - and a little light
By J. Todd Waterman, Harvey Broome Group [edited]
In Kingston, the darkest day of 2008 came the day after the winter solstice - December 22, the day 1.1 billion gallons of toxic coal ash swept entire neighborhoods away in the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. For the workers who spent years cleaning up TVA's mess, far darker days descended. Because they were denied respiratory and other protection by TVA’s cleanup contractor Jacobs Engineering, and then denied medical care and compensation, 400 survivors have fallen ill. 53 are dead. They are the “expendables.”
On December 20, 2020, led by workers' families with support from the Tennessee Chapter and environmental and labor organizations, 80 of us honored them with a car caravan and a memorial service. Facing the CO2-spewing Kingston plant from a soccer field atop Swan Pond’s poisonous coal ash, Julie Bledsoe, wife of worker Ron Bledsoe who struggles with severe health complications as a result of coal ash exposure, began: “We say never again can men and women work in or around coal ash without respiratory protection.” Janie Clark, wife of sickened worker Ansol Clark, thanked us: “For a long time we didn’t think we had anybody.” Survivor Jason Williams recounted helping up Ansol, who’d collapsed at a Clinton meeting, and being helped up by another survivor when he himself collapsed. Anderson County Commissioner Catherine Denenberg urged legislation, and support for it.
Then, long-awaited news: John Stewart announced the Kingston Worker Project fund to medically screen cleanup workers. Survivor Tommy Johnson led a prayer. Finally, backdropped by Kingston’s stacks, white doves were released, carrying aloft our fervent hopes.
Ron Bledsoe was diagnosed with COPD as a result of health complications incurred from coal ash exposure. Photo: John Todd Waterman.
Environmental Justice and Nature
Advancing racial justice means ending fossil fuel reliance. "The 2020 election has revealed a lot about America. Over 70 million Americans Republican voters have bought into a politics of exclusion by embracing white supremacy and denying the climate crisis and environmental racism. Links between structural racism, racial capitalism, and fossil fuel interests may not be obvious to all, but it is time to connect the dots. To advance racial justice in the United States and begin to heal the wounds of centuries of racism, the destructive power of the Koch network of fossil fuel interests must be stopped." Full article by Jasmine Banks & Jennie C. Stephens - Dame Magazine - Dec. 14, 2020.
OPINION: Webs of connection: the need for an integrated approach to our most important issues. "Addressing all our current issues such as COVID-19, climate change and systemic racism in an integrated, connected approach will be the most successful way to bring change. The same fossil fuel powered facilities which release climate change-inducing greenhouse gases can also cause health problems, particularly respiratory complications, for the communities living closest to them." Full article by Brianna Bjordahl - Tennessean - Dec. 8, 2020.
An invasive species of giant lizard has been making its way through the Southeast. "The Argentine black and white tegu is a native of South America and eats the eggs of ground-nesting birds, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. They grow up to 4 feet long and can weigh more than 10 pounds... Wildlife officials are concerned that the invasive species will compete with native animals for food and other resources, cause habitat damage, and transmit diseases." Keep reading article by Lauren Johnson - CNN - Dec. 8, 2020.
Renowned spider expert leaves her influence in places - and with people - around the world. "Dr. Susan Riechert sits calm and focused at a kitchen table covered in plastic containers filled with baby spiders. She gently plucks and places them with fearless confidence, setting up an experiment to see how aggressive they are... This setup is typical for Riechert, a world-renowned behavioral ecologist who has studied spiders for decades, including at her kitchen table. Riechert is an emeritus professor of ecology and evolutionary biology beloved by her students at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. She retired earlier this year from most university duties after 47 years. But she isn’t slowing down." Keep reading by Vincent Gabrielle - Knoxville News Sentinel - Nov. 29, 2020.
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!
White doves trained to fly back home were released during the Kingston Coal Ash Worker memorial event held Dec. 20, 2020. Photo: John Todd Waterman.
Congratulations to New Chapter At Large ExCom Members!
Welcoming two newly elected committee members: Virginia Dale and Don Barger
Dr. Virginia Dale is an environmental scientist, researcher, and professor who has fought for long-term protection of land and resources by engaging with the Sierra Club and numerous other environmental organizations. She helped develop the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) Assessment that in 2007 shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. Serving on the Chapter ExCom will allow her to give back to Tennessee.
Don Barger recently retired from a 37-year career as a grassroots organizer, conservationist and environmental advocate. Don has worked extensively with the Sierra Club, both nationally and locally, on numerous regional issues such as the 10-year TVA lawsuit that cleaned up or retired most of TVA's coal-fired boilers. Don joins the ExCom to engage in meaningful, impactful and societally progressive conservation efforts.
Congratulations to Dr. Cris Corley who was reelected to Chapter At Large Excom!
Events
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 ExCom will meet virtually Jan. 30, 2021.
Listed in order of occurrence:
Virtual Electric Vehicle Ride and Drive Event. This free event will allow participants to virtually experience a ride in an electric vehicle. Attendees will also learn about electric vehicle ownership, operation, charging, as well as personal and community benefits of transportation electrification. Hosted by Tennessee Clean Fuels and Drive Electric Tennessee. Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, Noon EST - 1:30 pm, Online.
MLK Day is January 18, 2021. Search for local events in your area for opportunities to learn, stand in solidarity, and engage in the ongoing fight for justice and human rights.
Community for Schoolyard Teaching and Learning meeting. Presented by Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, this monthly zoom is an opportunity to network and share best practices about outdoor learning for educators and teachers. Occurs 3rd Thursday of month, Jan. 21st at 4:30 - 6:00 pm. More info here.
TN Legislature Agenda assessment. Scott Banbury, TN Chapter Conservation Coordinator, will give an early assessment of upcoming legislation. We will provide specific actions that you can take to help your legislators come to the right decisions and get your voices heard. Bill Moll, Conservation Education Day Coordinator, will also be discussing the options for another strange year at the Capitol. Monday, Jan. 25 at 7:00 pm ETvia Zoom.
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).
Unity Group of Chattanooga marches with hundreds of supporters at last year's Annual MLK Day March, January 20, 2020. Staff photo: Times Free Press.
Special Features
Dear Eartha: Advice from an Eco-Guru
Dear Eartha,
As we close the challenging year of 2020 and enter 2021, I hear various reports and pundits claiming that our nation is either going down the toilet or on the cusp of changes of galactic proportions. Can you offer any advice for a path forward into this new year? —Just an Ordinary Citizen Seeking Truth
Dear Citizen,
How right you are that 2020 was challenging, and then some! Record-breaking heat, tornadoes, hurricanes, and wildfires, to say nothing of COVID-19 and meritless “alternative facts” about the pandemic and voter fraud. I point to the evidence of systemic racism in the disproportionate numbers of people of color infected by COVID facing unemployment, food insecurity, and death. These are truths few of us want to face, yet they are absolutely true.
I turn for answers to the “first responders” – Mother Earth and our native, indigenous elders. I recently reread a chapter in Braiding Sweetgrass by plant scientist and poet Robin Wall Kimmerer. She writes about a gift economy versus a market economy where private property is king. In a gift economy, she says “the more something is shared, the greater its value becomes.” In our lives we may see the gift economy in the proliferation of Little Free Libraries, or refrigerators stocked with staple foods and veggies in neighborhoods that are food deserts, or free stores and clothing swaps, or seed exchanges and food banks – that is, anything given with no payment or expectation of payment.
Dr. Kimmerer goes on to explain that “the fundamental nature of gifts” is that “they move, and their value increases with their passage.” Sort of like the notion of “what goes around, comes around.” I remember being on a train in Italy and complete strangers sharing part of their lunch with me. “Many of our ancient teachings,” writes Dr. Kimmerer, “counsel that whatever we have been given is supposed to be given away again.”
Giving away again takes many forms. An important one is buying from local shops and restaurants. Supporting the entrepreneurs and merchants in our neighborhoods, despite the convenience of Amazon and Wal-Mart, ensures workers’ livelihood, housing stability, and food security. Other forms of gifting involve the quiet social activism of the Sierra Club’s phone and text messaging; the outcome of the Georgia run-off for two senators will impact environmental and social policy immensely.
If I’ve learned anything from this year of living pandemically it’s been to notice my impact on my community. And that we are one world, one people, one Earth. Creating community in the smallest gestures of kindness and connection is a great gift. I’ve learned to listen more deeply, how to frame my responses more gently, and sometimes, to gift the world with my silence. The earth and this moment in time right now share with us a secret, ancient message. Are we listening?
Stay truth-tuned, dear readers, for we together, are the gift. Happy 2021!
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: Alabama Croton (Croton alabamensis)
Spotted leaves and staminate flowers are visible on the Alabama Croton in spring. Photo by Will Stuart / NameThatPlant.net.
This rare, semi-evergreen shrub is endemic to 4 counties in Alabama, 3 counties in Texas, and formerly one in Tennessee.
In early spring, the shrub yields a profusion of small, yellowish-green flowers.
Croton leaves are oblong to oblate in shape and green in color, with silver undersides. Older leaves turn vibrant orange in the fall and winter. Croton leaves have a fruity smell similar to freshly cut apples.
The shrub has no real pest or disease problems, so it is a great choice for a native garden landscape. It prefers partial sunlight and decent water drainage.
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.
Defender Fund 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.
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.
