Current Situation

Due to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic situation, we are sensitive to our constituents during this challenging crisis. . . .

Revised COVID-19 pandemic situation extends moratorium on gatherings to Feb 28, 2021. Sierra Club in-person events have been cancelled or postponed, and the cancellations extend to Feb 28, 2021. (We anticipate that the cancellations may be extended further). Some group and chapter business meetings that have been restructured for remote participation will take place. The work goes on! Most group and chapter business meetings have been restructured for remote participation.
Cancelled Events (at least through Feb 28, 2021):
Harvey Broome Group Outings
Face-to-Face Harvey Broome Group Program Meetings
Events not cancelled:
online (via Zoom) Tennessee Chapter ExCom Business meetings but note virtual program meeting info below
online (via Zoom) Harvey Broome Group ExCom meetings

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“Virtual” December 2020 Program: Tuesday, December 8, 2020, 7:00-8:30 PM

What: Harvey Broome Group Annual December Slide Show Program and Social
When:Tuesday, December 8, 2020, 7:00-8:30 PM
Where: Virtual via Zoom. Please Register through this Campfire Event Link.  About a week before the event (and a day before as a reminder) you will receive an e-mail with the information on how to connect to this program.

Join us for lots of fun! We’re asking HBG members and friends to show favorite photos of travel, outings, the environment, or other things of interest to our group. If you have photos to share here are some details. Since this will be done on Zoom you will be sharing your computer screen with all the other participants. Please, no more than ten minutes per person, including your commentary. Mac Post, our Program Chair, will coordinate the presentations; so contact him in advance so that he can put you on the presentation schedule. Please contact Mac (mpost3116@gmail.com, 865-806-0980) with any questions about technical details and if you want, some practice in screen sharing in Zoom. No photos? No problem! Join in anyway and share and enjoy what inspired people during this unusual year. All welcome.

Note: Consult the HBG website Calendar for updates to our calendar. Questions regarding HBG events should be addressed to HBG Chair Joanne Logan (loganjojolo@gmail.com).

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HBG and Local

Issues & Business

HBG Help Wanted: E-News Editor With The Harvey Broome Group –
A critical  volunteer role within a great
 grass-roots organization!

https://www.sierraclub.org/tennessee/harvey-broome/hbg-volunteer-opportunities

KUB posts intentions with respect to disconnections for non-payment.

They also include their suggestions for “assistance” for those in need, and how those of us in better circumstances can assist those in need via “Project Help."

For utility companies in other counties and municipalities in Tennessee, e.g., Alcoa, LaFollete, Lenoir City, Maryville, Clinton, and more, read their pandemic response policies.

Federally Funded Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

This federal program provides federally funded assistance in managing costs associated with: home energy bills, energy crises, weatherization and energy-related minor home repairs.

There’s Still Time for YOU to:
 Sign the Petition to Rename Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park.
(Help us get to 5,000 signatures!)

Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park in Benton County was named after a Confederate General notorious for being the first Grand Wizard of the KKK.
Sign the petition at this link.

Tennessee Chapter Sierra Club posts list of leaders on website

Who to call, text, or write - contact info for Chapter Admin plus Conservation and Issues Committees can be found under the “About Us” tab on the chapter website.
https://www.sierraclub.org/tennessee/our-leadership
Read about other local events in Tennessee in our Chapter e-newsletters.

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HBG and TN Chapter ExCom Elections.

Sierra Club members are entitled to vote for both Chapter and local group (e.g., HBG) Executive Committee elections. Look in your current issue (Nov-Dec) of the Tennessee-Sierran, or go to the election website to get the information and to cast your vote via the online voting option.

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Mac Post Arboretum

For years, a patch of overgrown land behind Dogwood Elementary School in South Knoxville sat almost unnoticed. Then one day, local ecologist and naturalist Mac Post wandered through a hole in a fence and found some old trails and a deteriorating natural amphitheater that had been constructed at some point in the past (Betsy Pickle, 2020)

Heavily involved from the beginning have been the Community School coordinators assigned to Dogwood Elementary, first Adam Fritts and now Kara Strouse. (The Community Schools program is part of what is now known as the Knox Education Foundation .) In addition to six outdoor classroom areas that are used by the school and more than a half-mile of winding wooded trails, earlier this year Strouse helped establish an arboretum on the property, with 51 different species of trees marked with helpful explanatory signs. In a nod to its discoverer and advocate, it was named the Mac Post Arboretum . (Betsy Pickle, 2020)

More to the story by Betsy Pickle in KnoxTNToday.com here...

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Effects of Renewable Energy on Avian Populations Webinar

On Thursday, Nov 12, 2020, Dr. Tara Conkling, a wildlife biologist at the USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, presented an online webinar at the invitation of the Howard Baker Center Energy and Environment Forum. She discussed the effects of biofuel-focused grasslands on grassland bird reproductive success and conservation. There is a lot of debate and discussion about the impacts of solar and wind farms on birds, but very little on biofuel production. Her results from plots in California (some preliminary) highlight the energy-, species- and region-specific nature of vulnerability to renewable energy and other threats that can contribute to large-scale declines for avian populations.

abcbirds.org

Here is a link to the full report.

These EE webinars will resume in February, 2021.

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State and National Newsflash

*** Note to readers about accessing these articles

Ed. note - What a difference a week makes - nothing to vote on (unless you live in Georgia)! As a matter of fact, congratulations are in order, as we just finished an election! Congratulations to all who voted, and kudos to those activists and volunteers who worked in campaigns or assisted in the voting process. It was an amazing outcome and even if no-one got everything they wanted, (almost) everyone should be proud. But in case you’ve been asleep for the last week or so, check this Washington Post summary:
"Biden elected 46th president of the United States".

And, by the way, we have elected Kamala Harris, the first woman, the first African-American, and the first person of South Asian heritage as Vice President of the United States!  Nov. 7 by Branden Tensley and Jasmine Wright, CNN.

"Hollywood: Legacy of a Memphis Dump. Documentary on Tennessee's first superfund site.” This 27-minute video documentary describes how this environmental disaster has affected, and continues to affect, Memphis communities. Though it gives historical perspective on this environmental disaster, it has significance for current residents of Memphis. A PBS special now available online. Aired Oct 9, Bard Cole, WKNO-TV. Available online from PBS.

"EPA may violate courts with new rule extending life of unlined coal ash ponds." The Trump EPA now will allow utilities to store toxic waste from coal in open, unlined pits. Oct 16 by Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill.


Scene from Tongass Nat’l. Forest - fs.usda.gov

Trump opens the Tongass National Forest to logging and other forms of development. The move threatens the integrity of one of the world's largest temperate rainforests, with dire implications for CO2 capture potential of the forest. Oct 28, by Julia Eilperin, The Washington Post.

Trump fires DOE head of U.S. Global Change Research Program, Mike Kuperberg, responsible for the government's research on global warming.  Kuperberg was ordered back to the Energy Department, and is expected to be replaced by a climate skeptic, David Legates, who was installed by Trump in September of 2020 as a deputy assistant secretary of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Other sources indicate that Legates' prior research at the University of Delaware has been supported by the fossil fuel industry. November 10, Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Ari Natter, Microsoft News .

"'Whoa' – Fox News cuts off Kayleigh McEnany for 'illegal votes' spiel." Fox News anchor takes president's spokesperson off the air for unfounded remarks about election fraud. Neil Cavuto literally "cut away" from Kayleigh McEnany in the midst  of her diatribe, saying she was charging the Democrats with welcoming election fraud without any real evidence.  November 9, Helen Sullivan, The Guardian.

"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. November 10, by Natalie Allison, Nashville Tennessean.

In contrast with the current President, key international allies of the U.S. appear appear to have no problem accepting the results of the election. Furthermore, the Tennessee has devoted resources of its Justice Dept to supporting the Trump administration’s Pennsylvania ballot-counting case. November 10, by Kate Sullivan, Kevin Liptak and Kylie Atwood, CNN.


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." November 10, Jonathan Mattise, Associated Press, U.S.News&World Report.

Got to see the humor in this one: Four Seasons Confusion, or “MAKE AMERICA RAKE AGAIN.” The primo location for a Trump election news conference - a landscaping firm, cremation services and a sex shop. And this press conference was apparently set up by a pair of confusing tweets from the President!  Can’t they get anything right? (It was supposed to be held at the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia.) November 9, Victoria Bekiempis, The Guardian.

Georgia on your mind? As it turns out, the senate races for two Georgia seats resulted in neither race being decisive, in that no candidate in either race received over 50% of the vote. So on January 5, 2021, there will be a runoff between the Republican and Democratic candidates in each race. Since this race is the only chance that Democrats have for gaining a Senate majority (if you count the Vice President's tie-breaking vote), it is garnering a lot of attention. November 12, by Bill Barrow and Ben Nadler, AP News.

Solar energy now the cheapest (in some parts of the world). "To encourage more people and companies to switch to solar power, countries can adjust their policies to make purchasing that equipment more affordable. Today, more than 130 countries have policies that lower the cost of building new solar installations. This is the first year that the IEA took such policies into consideration when calculating the cost of solar energy in its annual World Energy Outlook report. After doing so, their estimates of the cost of solar power fell by between 20 to 50 percent per region compared to last year." October 13, by Justine Calma, the Verge.

A more technical and detailed coverage is in the October 13 article by Simon Evans and Josh Gabbatiss, in Carbon Brief.

Trump order would “politicize” the professional federal workforce. A new Trump executive order would change the way professional federal employees are treated. Critics argue it would tend to "politicize" the federal workforce and create chaos in may agencies. A high level manager, Chairman of the Federal Salary Council, resigned in protest. Of course, the new President could reverse the order, but in the meantime, havoc could reign. October 31, Brian Naylor, NPR.

Read about other events in Tennessee in our Chapter e-newsletters.

*** A democracy with informed citizens requires the professionalism that we have historically expected of credible news sources. Most “local" newspapers today are asking folks who access their online news stories to purchase a subscription to their paper. This is understandable generally, and reminds us that we should do our part to pay for the resources that result in publication of local news. Those of us who use summaries of published print news, as we do, are no exception, and we ask the same of our readers. However, we also believe that a person who only wants to see an occasional article published in a newspaper should not be required to subscribe. So if you believe that you are in the latter category - only an occasional reader, you may be able to read an article without a subscription if you "browse anonymously" or clear your browser cache before activating a link to an article. This may help you avoid many "pay walls" at these news sources (some sources restrict access even with anonymous settings). Another approach is to search for alternate source on the particular news item. But we recommend that our readers who find themselves accessing an online news source on a regular basis subscribe to an online version of the paper, which is generally much cheaper than a  print version.

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Can't donate now? Sign up for Kroger Community Rewards. Kroger donates a portion of what you spend to the Harvey Broome Group as long as you designate HBG as your preferred charity.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Kroger Community Rewards web page
2. Register (or Sign In if you already have an account.)
3. Enroll in Community Rewards (or Edit if you're already enrolled.)
4. Enter HBG's Community Rewards Number 27874.

That's it. Swipe your Kroger Card when you shop and know that you're helping protect your environment.

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Who We Are