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 July 4, 2021. Sierra Club in-person events have been cancelled or postponed, and the cancellations extend to July 4, 2021. Some group and chapter business meetings that have been restructured for online participation will take place. The work goes on! Most group and chapter business meetings have been restructured for online participation.
Cancelled Events (at least through July 4, 2021):
Harvey Broome Group Outings
Face-to-Face Harvey Broome Group Program Meetings
Events not cancelled:
Online (via Zoom) Harvey Broome Group ExCom meetings

virtual online program meetings (see info below)

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“Virtual” June 2021 Program: Tuesday, June 8, 2021, 7:00-8:30 PM

Note: Consult the HBG website Calendar for updates to our calendar. Questions regarding HBG events should be addressed to HBG Chair Jerry Thornton (gatwilcat@aol.com).

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HBG and Local Issues & Business

Jamie Satterfield speaks (Image by Todd Waterman)

At the April 24 union-organized Workers Memorial Day Observance at Knoxville’s Church of the Savior, anguished Knoxville News Sentinel reporter Jamie Satterfield held up a star-covered mask presented to her by Janie Clark, who calls her “Little Star,” on behalf of sickened Kingston cleanup workers like Janie’s beloved husband Ansol, who were denied dust masks by now-notorious TVA cleanup contractor Jacobs Engineering. Ansol’s memorial cross (on the right) commemorated their sacrifice. Jamie asked Ansol, Ron Bledsoe, and Tommy Johnson - big, strong Kingston survivors now crippled - and their families to stand for applause.  
 
Four days later, on April 28, Jamie posted on Facebook that Ansol Clark had suffered a heart attack. She asked that we pray for him, Janie, and their son Bergan. But in three days, another Kingston worker was gone.
 
Janie Clark says she will host a future Celebration of Life for Ansol, whose cross she will maintain. She feels the loving support of her fellow coal ash activists, and will devote her life to fighting with us for coal ash victims like Ansol.

The Workers Memorial honored first workers who died from COVID-19 contracted at work, then East Tennessee workers who died on the job in 2020, and finally the more than 50 Kingston cleanup workers who have now died. Worker champions spoke: retired TVA VP John Stewart; his son Tennessee House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Mike Stewart; Jamie Satterfield; union organizers Fran Ansley, Jim Sessions, and Travis Donoho; Bri Knisley; Rep. Gloria Johnson; Renee Hoyos; and others. Musicians Jay Clark and Dan Kimbro closed with Ron Bledsoe’s first-hand account of his experience working for Jacobs Engineering, his powerful song “Kingston” - which Ron, now suffering from COPD, can no longer sing.

Take Action to Keep Tennessee's TVA Coal Ash Workers and Nearby Communities Safe

Donate to the Kingston Worker Assistance Fund, which pays for medical screening for any Kingston worker at UT Hospital.

Related:  Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee Facebook Live VIDEO
Related:  Facebook album: Ansol Clark Remembered, and Workers Memorial Day
 

Call for Nominations for the Harvey Broome Group (HBG) ExCom

The HBG Nomination Committee is seeking self-nominated candidates and suggestions for nominees! This year, 6 of HBG’s 12 ExCom members will reach the end of their terms. The Sierra Club’s democratic process ensures it is held accountable to its membership with viable candidates who best represent our members’ interests. Any HBG member in good standing is eligible for nomination for the HBG ExCom. Any HBG Member wishing to be considered as a candidate should indicate their intent by July 31, 2021.

Email Jerry Thornton at gatwildcat@aol.com, or send paper mail to 413 Sugarwood Drive, Farragut, TN 37934.
More information


Volunteers Needed to Hike Trails for New Edition of HBG’s Cherokee National Forest Hiking Guide
By Will Skelton


Image courtesy of Will Skelton

The first comprehensive hiking guide to the Cherokee National Forest (CNF) was published by the University of Tennessee Press in 1992 as “Wilderness Trails of Tennessee’s Cherokee National Forest.” A second edition was likewise published by UT Press in 2005 as “Cherokee National Forest Hiking Guide.” With over 15 years having passed since the last edition and it being sold out, and with new Wilderness areas designated by Congress, it is appropriate that a new edition be published, reflecting changes in newly designated trails, decommissioned trails, trailhead changes, and physical changes in trails. Accordingly, the Harvey Broome Group of the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, which wrote and produced both editions, is planning to prepare a revised manuscript over 2021-2022. Will Skelton, Don Barger and Joan Tomlinson will be organizing the effort. We especially need volunteers to re-hike in 2021 all of the approximately 192 trails and over 600 miles of trails in the CNF. Some hiking experience will be necessary and, since we’ll be double-checking the trail mileages (which were originally done by rolling a measuring wheel along all the trails), familiarity with using a GPS or a willingness to learn such will be necessary (using a separate GPS device like a Garmin or a cell phone GPS program like Avenza or Gaia).

If interested, please contact: Will Skelton - 865-523-2272, whshome@bellsouth.net or Joan Tomlinson - 865-567-8051, joanptomlinson@gmail.com


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, links to pandemic response policies can be found here.

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.


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

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Events and Actions

State and National Newsflash

*** Note to readers about accessing these articles

Physical Bitcoin (Image credit antanacoins via Creative Commons)
 
Tesla stops accepting Bitcoin as payment for its cars. Neal E. Boudette, New York Times, May 12.
“Three months after Tesla said it would begin accepting the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as payment, the electric carmaker has abruptly reversed course. ...‘Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at a great cost to the environment,' Mr. Musk wrote. 'We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.’”
 

Mines haven't produced coal for months, but Tennessee legislature OKs $1M for regulation. Tyler Whetstone, Knoxville News Sentinel, May 11.
“After some fits and starts, the Tennessee General Assembly pushed legislation through this spring that will bring a floundering, nearly dormant coal industry back under state control. It will cost nearly $1 million a year to do it, even though oversight was originally promised to be free. Coal mines in Tennessee produced exactly the same amount of coal in the second, third and fourth quarters of last year: 0 tons. That haul, or lack thereof, continues a trend where the state of Tennessee mines less coal than all other coal-producing states but one. Even still, lawmakers pushed the bill through with the price tag that will cost taxpayers. After it's signed by Gov. Bill Lee and after the federal government approves the move, the legislation would shift control of the coal mining industry from the federal government to state regulators. It's a move to bring back control since Tennessee lost that privilege due to poor management in the 1980s.”

Offshore wind installation (Image credit Vattenfall Nederland via Creative Commons)
 
Biden-Harris Administration Approves First Major Offshore Wind Project in U.S. Waters: Major milestone will propel America’s drive toward a clean energy future. White House Press Release, May 11.
“Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo today announced approval of the construction and operation of the Vineyard Wind project — the first large-scale, offshore wind project in the United States. The Secretaries were joined in the announcement by labor leaders who have been working to ensure that the project is built and maintained by union labor. The 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind energy project will contribute to the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of generating 30 gigawatts of energy from offshore wind by 2030. The project will be located approximately 12 nautical miles offshore Martha's Vineyard and 12 nautical miles offshore Nantucket in the northern portion of Vineyard Wind’s lease area. It will create 3,600 jobs and provide enough power for 400,000 homes and businesses.”

Electric cars ‘will be cheaper to produce than fossil fuel vehicles by 2027’: BloombergNEF forecasts result of falling cost of making batteries as well as dedicated production lines. Joanna Partridge, The Guardian, May 9.
“Electric vehicles reaching price parity with the internal combustion engine is seen as a key milestone in the world’s transition from burning fossil fuels. ...The report’s timeline for cost parity is more conservative than other forecasts, including one from the investment bank UBS, which has predicted that electric cars will cost the same to make by 2024.”

Related: Electric cars 'as cheap to manufacture' as regular models by 2024: Analysis by UBS suggests shift away from fossil fuel vehicles may be imminent. Jasper Jolly, The Guardian, Oct 21, 2020.
 

Greener vision for TVA phases out coal, electrifies transportation, adds solar and nuclear. Dave Flessner, Chattanooga Times Free Press, May 7.
At its May 6, 2021 Board Meeting, TVA Directors endorsed a new strategic plan to phase out coal by 2035 and replace it with new small modular reactors (SMAs), new gas plants, and solar. Flessner quotes TVA CEO Jeff Lyash, Beyond Coal’s Jonathan Levenshus, and SACE’s Stephen Smith.


Tennessee Valley Authority plans to shut coal plants by 2035. Reuters, May 4.
“The Tennessee Valley Authority, a U.S.-owned utility, confirmed on Monday it plans to shut four remaining coal plants by 2035, the year by when President Joe Biden wants the nation's power grid to be decarbonized to fight climate change.”
   
Landfill (Image credit cogdogblog via Creative Commons)
 
Waste Management sues Davidson County over landfill expansion rejection. Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout, May 6.
“A fight over the future of a controversial landfill in Nashville’s predominantly Black Bordeaux neighborhood has now landed in court. Waste Management, the owner of the Southern Services Construction & Demolition landfill, filed suit in Davidson County Chancery Court after an oversight board rejected its plans to expand its 77-acre landfill by an additional 17 acres. That rejection came from Nashville’s Solid Waste Region Board in March. The 11-member board concluded the expansion plans were 'inconsistent' with the city’s long-term Solid Waste Master Plan, a comprehensive roadmap that calls on the city to achieve near zero-waste to landfills by 2050. The board noted that health concerns, livability, home resale values as well as environmental impacts all weighed against an expansion.”


NOAA’s “new normals” are anything but normal. Jeff Berardelli, CBS News, May 6.
In the video CBS Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli compares Earth's interdependent systems to our body systems: "The Earth system is just as sensitive... If your body system goes up 2 degrees, you're not feeling so good. The Earth has a [2 degree] fever. But we're expecting to go up another 2, 3 degrees. … We'll have an equivalent of 102 to 105 degrees. So at that point, systems begin to break down."  
 

How artificial streams inside this Oak Ridge lab are making our nation's water safer. Vincent Gabrielle, Knoxville News Sentinel, May 4.
“Water touches everything. The energy sector is no exception. Scientists at the [Aquatic Ecology Lab, part of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Environmental Sciences Division] set up artificial streams to chase mercury, radiation or other pollutants through mini-ecosystems. They test local water, and fish, for harmful contamination. They apply what they learn to keep our water and fisheries healthy. ...The lab is among the few places on earth that has the capacity to run ecology experiments and scale them all the way to field testing. Many of the streams on the reserve have been monitored by the lab for decades. It's a treasure trove of historical data.”
 
TVA Coal Ash Disaster Revisited: Is it Time for EPA to Regulate the Toxic Sludge as Hazardous Waste? Glynn Wilson, New American Journal, May 1.
Glynn Wilson visited the site of the 2008 Kingston coal ash spill nearly twelve years later with “reluctant expert on coal ash” and local property owner Steve Scarborough as a guide. Impacts of the disaster are still deeply felt in the community, from property values and the river ecosystem to workers’ health and TVA’s reputation. “‘Truth has been pretty well battered in this whole thing and pretty much makes me not trust anything that TVA says about its operation. I know things they stated publicly were flat out lies. The biggest one everyone’s realizing now is, it’s not just dirt,’ Scarborough said with a wry laugh. ‘It’s a problem.’”
Related: Video interview with Steve Scarborough
 

In historic move, Tennessee Valley Authority finally swears off coal; are power replacements up in the air? Thomas Fraser, Hellbender Press. no date.
HBG’s Kent Minault and Stephen Smith of SACE are quoted extensively in this analysis of TVA’s plan to transition away from coal power in favor of renewable energy sources.

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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