Current Situation

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

Update On In-Person Gatherings
We are happy to announce that the Sierra Club will begin hosting some in-person events and outings beginning July 5th! HBG has two backpacking trips planned for July (see Events and Actions section below for details). All in-person outings and events will be modified for COVID safety. Masks are not required for outdoor gatherings, but social distancing will be in place. We look forward to seeing you all again soon, and thank you for bearing with us as we do our best to bring you wonderful events and keep each other safe at the same time!
Read more about reopening guidelines

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) Tennessee Chapter ExCom Business meetings
Online (via Zoom) Harvey Broome Group ExCom meetings
Online (via Zoom) Harvey Broome Group Program Meetings - note online program meeting info below
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A KAT bus receiving its first electric charge at the New Flyer plant in Anniston, AL. Image credit New Flyer.

“Virtual” July 2021 Program

What: Become an Advocate of Public Electric Transportation by Kent Minault, Co-Chair of the Tennessee Sierra Club Transportation Committee.

Where: Virtual via Zoom. Please RSVP through this Campfire Event Link. You will receive information on how to connect to this program and be notified via email if there are any changes.

When: Tuesday, July 13, 2021, 7:00-8:30 PM

Join the Harvey Broome Group for a lively discussion about whats going on around the world and here in our state about getting our public fleets electrified. He will show some reports that persuasively argue that were on the cusp of a big surge in EV adoption. The transition to clean vehicles will be fast in some places and slow in others. It will be disruptive, but some very creative ways to handle the change are coming from unexpected places.Learn about the initiative to encourage (1) school districts to switch to electric school buses, (2) public works to convert to electric garbage trucks, and (3) metro and county transit to convert to electric buses. With your help we can reduce our communities carbon footprints.

Please RSVP through this Campfire link and you will receive information on how to link to this virtual presentation.

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

By Jack Knoxville, Sierra Club Community Engagement Coordinator
 Image credit: Jack Knoxville

Thank You Cherokee National Forest Hiking Guide Volunteers!

Cherokee National Forest. Image via Creative Commons.

Thank you to all of you fabulous folks who have volunteered to hike trails and create descriptions for HBG's in-progress third edition of the official Cherokee National Forest hiking guide! At this time, we have all the volunteers we need for this project. For more opportunities to hike with HBG, check out our July outings in the Events and Actions section below.

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

Left: A home devastated by the 2008 Kingston coal ash spill. Image credit Bonnie Swinford. Right: Image courtesy of Lightware Solar, which has installed solar power throughout Tenn.

TVA wants to hear from you! Our federal utility is planning to close the Kingston coal plant in Roane County, Tennessee -- the site of the largest industrial spill in U.S. history. TVA is designing a study to evaluate the impacts of different energy options, including solar and battery storage technologies. Support the community and workers injured by the coal ash spill. Tell TVA to replace the power with clean energy like solar while investing in locally-led economic development, instead of air-polluting, climate-worsening gas plants and pipelines."To meet the needs of workers, the local environment, and the climate, TVA must not replace the coal plant with more fossil fuels like methane-leaking, CO2-emitting fracked gas. We need TVA to know clean energy is the solution." It's long overdue! Remember to write a personal message saying why this matters to you. Comments to TVA are due by July 15th. Add your comment here. Comments made after noon on July 15 or exceeding 1000 characters should be submitted by email at nepa@tva.gov or online here.

Bull Run Neighbors Community Zoom with Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel at Earthjustice
Hosted by Bull Run Neighbors
July 8
6-7 PM ET


Zoom with the Bull Run Community and Lisa Evans, author of A Toolkit to Advocate For Coal Ash Cleanups: Every coal ash cleanup that’s been done right in the past happened because people in the community made their voices heard. We’re proving that’s true: Together we thwarted TVA’s proposed toxic fly ash landfill targeting the heart of our community. Join us now to win a reborn and beautiful Claxton community free of Bull Run coal ash contamination. Earthjustice Senior Counsel Lisa will help us to powerfully comment and to effectively question Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) coal ash experts, in person or virtually, at the Monday, July 12 Anderson County Intergovernmental Committee Meeting listed below.
Sign up on Campfire.

HBG Outing: Backpacking in Lost Cove Wilderness Study Area, NC
July 10 - 11
Lost Cove is a US Forest Service wilderness study area consisting of around 5,954 acres, located southeast of Lineville, NC, and adjacent to the Harper Creek WSA. Geologically, Lost Cove is an erosion feature that exposes ancient rocks where the once-overlying Blue Ridge Thrust Sheet has eroded away. The result is some spectacular scenery and lots of waterfalls; we'll see Little Lost Cove Falls, Hunt Fish Falls, and Gragg Prong Falls. From a trailhead on USFS Road 981 we’ll descend into Lost Cove and camp along Lost Cove Creek. Backpacking hiking mileage is around 7 miles and the backpack is rated Moderate.
Pre-register with Will Skelton: Home phone 523-2272; Cell phone 742-7327; email: whshome@bellsouth.net
Then, sign up on Campfire to get timely updates:
***HBG outings will be conducted with appropriate COVID-19 safety precautions in place***

Anderson County Intergovernmental Committee Coal Ash Meeting
With TDEC Division of Solid Waste Management Director Patrick Flood and TDEC CCR Technical Manager Robert Wilkinson
July 12
5 - 5:55 PM ET
Room 312, Anderson County Courthouse,
100 North Main Street, Clinton, TN 37716
OR online via GoToMeeting

Impassioned public comment at Feb. 18, 2020 Anderson Co. TVA coal ash hearing. Image credit Todd Waterman.

We’ve proved how powerful we are when we show up and speak out together: We blocked TVA’s proposed new Bull Run coal fly ash landfill. Now, join with us to secure the bright future Anderson County wants and deserves: a properly cleaned up, decontaminated, and restored Bull Run site that can become the centerpiece of a thriving and vibrant Claxton community on a beautiful, uncontaminated Melton Lake Reservoir.
Please come, in person or on GoToMeeting, urge your friends to come, comment non-redundantly for up to three minutes, and ask probing questions! Though the courthouse has a new UV air filtration system, because only 41% of Anderson Countians are fully vaccinated and the Delta variant is spreading, we urge in-person attendees to be fully vaccinated for two weeks, wear a properly-fitted mask, socially distance where possible, and assume others may be vulnerable or careless. Together we are mighty! See Thursday, July 8 to prepare with coal ash community activism expert Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel at Earthjustice.   
The GoToMeeting video link when available may be found by clicking on "Intergovernmental" under Monday, July 12 on the Anderson County calendar at https://andersoncountytn.gov/

HBG Outing: Backpacking in Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area, VA
July 31 - August 1
The Mt. Rogers NRA and adjacent Grayson Highlands State Park, in southwest Virginia, make for one of the most scenic backpacking areas in the southeast, with huge open grassy meadows fringed by spruce trees and rhododendron bushes, usually flowering in June. Portions actually look like the western US. Views of the wild ponies are almost guaranteed in the State Park. We’re doing a new campsite from the past several years, starting at the Grayson Highlands State Park trailhead and hiking to Wilburn Ridge and then down to an off-trail campsite below Wilburn Ridge. Backpacking hiking mileage from the trailhead to camp is around 3.5 miles (with opportunities for some day hiking) and the backpack is rated Easy.
Pre-register with Will Skelton: Home phone 523-2272; Cell phone 742-7327; email: whshome@bellsouth.net
Then, sign up on Campfire for the latest updates.
***HBG outings will be conducted with appropriate COVID-19 safety precautions in place***

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State and National Newsflash

*** Note to readers about accessing these articles

Watch: Global Warming in the Mid-South (An interview with HBG’s Mac Post). WREG, June 29.
Memphis’ WREG News interviewed our own Mac Post about climate change! “One study found that Shelby County could experience 113 days per year with temperatures of at least 90 degrees less than 60 years from now if steps are not taken now to prevent global warming. Mac Post, retired chairman with the Sierra Club in Tennessee, talked to WREG about what that means for those living here now, and whether it can be turned around. ‘It’s getting too late,” Post said. “We’ve been burning fossil fuels since the middle of the1800s and that has accumulated in the atmosphere. Back then it was about 350 parts per million and right now it’s about 420, so it has risen 30% due to man’s activities. Eighty percent is due to fossil fuels, and a certain percentage is due to land use changes.’ But there is reason for hope, Post said. Renewable energy has come on strong in the past decade with wind, solar and hydroelectric energy sources now cheaper than building fossil fuel plants. Those sources can now provide much of the world’s energy needs.”

TVA studies plan to idle Kingston coal plant where ash spill destroyed homes, polluted river: 12 years after nation's worst coal ash spill on site, utility looks for replacement power. Dave Flessner, Chattanooga Times Free Press, June 21
"Kingston's history of operational, safety, and environmental problems, as well as the ongoing risk of coal ash contamination to local water resources, have long cast a shadow on the plant," said Jonathan Levenshus, a representative from the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. "The growing interest by TVA's customers in reliable, cost-effective clean energy investments means that Roane County and the surrounding region is better positioned today than ever to achieve climate and clean energy goals without risky coal or gas plants."

Related: TVA may shut down Kingston plant. Benjamin Pounds, Oakridger, June 16.
“The Tennessee Valley Authority is looking at retiring the Kingston Fossil Plant. On its website, TVA stated its coal plants generally are “among the oldest in the nation” and are having trouble with performance. It described the coal plants as “contributing to environmental, economic and reliability risks.” It plans to have another source of power generation replace the plant. TVA has retired or is planning to retire other coal-fired plants, including Bull Run Fossil Plant on the other side of Oak Ridge in the Claxton community. Bull Run is slated for retirement no later than December 2023.”

One in Five Deaths from Fossil Fuels. Living On Earth, NPR, June 18.
“If 300,000 people roughly are dying every year in the United States from fossil fuel air pollution, and you know, 8 million people are dying globally, can you imagine what we would be doing if we treated this like we have Covid? I mean, the world is spending trillions upon trillions of dollars to deal with this pandemic.…And if we in fact, included the health effects of our production system and the reliance on fossil fuels, we would be off fossil fuels tomorrow, because no one could afford using them.” - Ari Bernstein

Investors holding $41 trillion demand action on climate — now. Matt Egan, CNN Business, June 10.
“More than 450 major investors signed a letter that was released Thursday urging governments to set more ambitious emission reduction targets, detail "clear" road maps to decarbonize pollution-heavy industries and implement mandatory climate risk disclosure requirements.The letter, signed by Fidelity, State Street and other influential asset management firms, marks the strongest call yet from investors urging governments around the world to take bolder steps to fight the climate crisis.”

Developer Abandons Keystone XL Pipeline Project, Ending Decade-Long Battle. Jeff Brady and Neela Banerjee, NPR, June 9.

Keystone XL protest in Santa Barbara, CA. Image credit 350.org.
 
“The company behind the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline said Wednesday it's officially terminating the project. TC Energy already had suspended construction in January when President Biden revoked a key cross-border presidential permit. The announcement ends a more than decade-long battle that came to signify the debate over whether fossil fuels should be left in the ground to address climate change.”

Climate emerges as infrastructure sticking point. Rachel Frazin, The Hill, June 7.
“Climate change is emerging as a sticking point in infrastructure negotiations, as proposals from President Biden and Republicans remain disparate on actions to address the warming planet. Following additional negotiations last week, during which Republicans upped their offer by $50 billion, the White House said it still did not go far enough on climate change. Meanwhile, climate hawks are expressing fear that climate action could fall to the wayside in a push to get bipartisan legislation across the finish line.”

Climate Justice Must Include Justice for LGBTQI+ People. Martín Witchger, Sierra Club website, June 4.
In honor of Pride month, North Carolina-based Sierra Club organizer Martín Witchger discusses his and his friends’ experiences as members of the LBGTQI+ community, and the power that comes from people of all identities organizing to achieve common goals. “Together, we're working toward a just, equitable, and sustainable future built on a foundation of racial, economic, and gender equity -- where all people benefit from a healthy, thriving planet. We can't create a livable planet without disrupting and dismantling the systemic inequities that ensure that white, cis, straight individuals have disproportionate access to good jobs, housing, healthcare, education, and much more.”
 
How Returning Lands to Native Tribes Is Helping Protect Nature. Jim Robbins, Yale Environment 360, June 3.
“From California to Maine, land is being given back to Native American tribes who are committing to managing it for conservation. Some tribes are using traditional knowledge, from how to support wildlife to the use of prescribed fires, to protect their ancestral grounds. ... The use of Indigenous management styles that evolved over many centuries of cultures immersed in nature — formally called Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) — is increasingly seen by conservationists as synergistic with the global campaign to protect biodiversity and to manage nature in a way that hedges against climate change.”

Biden Suspends Drilling Leases in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: The decision blocks, for now, oil and gas drilling in one of the largest tracts of undeveloped wilderness in the United States. Coral Davenport, Henry Fountain and Lisa Friedman, The New York Times, June 1.

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Image credit U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
 
“The Biden administration on Tuesday suspended oil drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, unspooling a signature achievement of the Trump presidency and delivering on a promise by President Biden to protect the fragile Alaskan tundra from fossil fuel extraction. The decision sets up a process that could halt drilling in one of the largest tracts of untouched wilderness in the United States, home to migrating waterfowl, caribou and polar bears. But it also lies over as much as 11 billion barrels of oil and Democrats and Republicans have fought over whether to allow drilling there for more than four decades.”

Big Oil’s Bad, Bad Day: Crushing blows to three of the world’s largest oil companies have made it clear that the arguments many have been making for decades have sunk in at the highest levels. Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, May 26.
“In what may be the most cataclysmic day so far for the traditional fossil-fuel industry, a remarkable set of shareholder votes [for Chevron and ExxonMobil] and court rulings [against Royal Dutch Shell] have scrambled the future of three of the world’s largest oil companies.”

The plan to turn coal country into a rare earth powerhouse: With plans for a Made-in-America renewable energy transformation, Biden administration ramps up efforts to extract rare earth minerals from coal waste. Maddie Stone, Grist, May 26.

A coal mine in Wyoming. Image credit Beyond Coal and Gas.

“At an abandoned coal mine just outside the city of Gillette, Wyoming, construction crews are getting ready to break ground on a … pilot plant that aims to take coal ash — the sooty, toxic waste left behind after coal is burned for energy — and use it to extract rare earths, elements that play an essential role in everything from cell phones and LED screens to wind turbines and electric cars. The pilot plant in Wyoming is a critical pillar of an emerging effort led by the Department of Energy, or DOE, to convert the toxic legacy of coal mining in the United States into something of value. Similar pilot plants and research projects are also underway in states including West Virginia, North Dakota, Utah, and Kentucky. If these projects are successful, the Biden administration hopes that places like Gillette will go from being the powerhouses of the fossil fuel era to the foundation of a new domestic supply chain that will build tomorrow’s energy systems.”
 
Climate change: G7 ministers agree new steps against fossil fuels. Roger Harrabin, BBC News, May 21.
“G7 environment ministers have agreed that they will deliver climate targets in line with limiting the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C. That's far more ambitious than the previous 2C maximum. Ministers also agreed to stop direct funding of coal-fired power stations in poorer nations by the end of 2021. There's wriggle room in the statement, but the decision will send a clear message to development banks that still fund coal power in poor countries. There's also an important commitment to safeguarding 30% of land for nature by 2030 to boost wildlife and help soak up carbon emissions.”

Related: Richest nations agree to end support for coal production overseas
G7 countries reaffirm commitment to limit global heating to 1.5C after nearly two days of wrangling. Fiona Harvey, The Guardian, May 21.
“The world’s richest nations have agreed to end their financial support for coal development overseas, in a major step towards phasing out the dirtiest fossil fuel. After nearly two days of wrangling at a meeting of the G7 environment and energy ministers, hosted virtually by the UK on Thursday and Friday, all reaffirmed their commitment to limiting global heating to 1.5C, and committed to phasing out coal and fully decarbonizing their energy sectors in the 2030s.”

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