HBG ExCom meetings: In-person at Church of the Savior, 934 N Weisgarber Rd, Knoxville, TN 37909 (with Zoom option)
HBG Program meetings: In-person at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN 37919 (with Zoom option)
Tennessee Chapter ExCom Business meetings: In-person or online (via Zoom)
(see our Chapter Calendar for more details)
April 2023 Program
May 2023 Program
What: Native Fish Restoration in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by Caleb Abramson, Fisheries Technician, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
When: Tuesday, May 9, 2023, 7:00-8:30 PM
Where: Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church 2931 Kingston Pike, Knoxville TN
Photo by Caleb Abramson.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park contains nearly 2,900-miles of perennial waterways ranging from high-elevation creeks to lower elevation rivers. Approximately 700 of those miles are occupied by almost 70 species of fish from 12 different families, including: lampreys, darters, shiners, minnows, suckers, bass and trout. Brook Trout, the only native salmonid species in the Smokies, lost more than 75-percent of its original range due to wholescale logging prior to the National Park’s establishment. Those populations that did survive were relegated to the highest elevation streams that saw little timber harvest. Unfortunately, the areas those fish persist also receive higher loads of atmospheric deposition, which lowers stream pH. Fishery managers have been working to restore native Brook Trout to select mid-elevation watersheds with more stable stream chemistry. To date, managers have restored more than 31-miles of select streams to purely Brook Trout. Restoration efforts continue to be performed.
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HBG Business & Local Issues
Join us for the Spring Chapter Retreat at Fall Creek Falls!
Fall Creek Falls. in April. Photo by Todd Waterman.
The Harvey Broome Group cordially invites you to the Tennessee Chapter’s Spring Retreat at beautiful Fall Creek Falls State Park April 28-30! Enjoy the company of other environmentalists during the peak of spring wildflower season! Be a part of the fellowship, hikes, fireplace chats, and meetings. Don’t miss the Saturday evening program, silent auction, and the informal social gathering that follows. Meet others who share your love and respect for the environment. There will be no Chapter Executive Committee meeting during this retreat, which is designated primarily for fun, member engagement, and outdoor adventures. Venue information and directions are available on the park website.
Register here by April 22nd to receive early bird pricing.
HBG Outings Program Needs You!
 Honey Creek Loop Trail, Big South Fork NRRA © Ron Shrieves (edited).
The HBG Outings Program needs a new Outings Committee Chair who has the time and energy to re-energize the long-standing outings program. Please consider whether you have the energy to be the new Outings Chair and to help make our Outings Program the great program that it has been since the beginning of our Group. The position is not hugely time consuming, but the program needs some nurturing and attention. An HBG Outing can be an urban adventure, a trip to a recycling center, a community litter clean-up project, a day hike, a backpack, a birding outing, a kayak/canoe outing, and much more. The Outings Committee Chair works with other committee members and other outings leaders to support the Outings Program. Having a thriving Outings Program helps HBG to exemplify the Sierra Club slogan “enjoy, explore, and protect the planet.” For more information, please contact Joan Tomlinson at joanptomlinson@gmail.com or Jerry Thornton at gatwildcat@aol.com.
Nuclear Fuel Production Facility Under NRC Review in Oak Ridge
By Melanie Mayes
The Harvey Broome Group submitted comments to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regarding a proposed nuclear fuel production facility in Oak Ridge’s Horizon Center
Industrial Park. The TRISO-X plant is touted as the nation’s first High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel fabrication facility. There is a complex chemical process required to produce the fuels at TRISO-X, which will power a new generation of pebble bed high-temperature gas reactors that remain under development. The NRC collected comments
through February to help identify the scope and content of the Environmental Impact Statement and site safety evaluation.
The Harvey Broome Group’s comments centered on the suitability of the site, based on information gleaned from TRISO-X’s environmental report, which is available here . TRISO-X stated early in the report that “karst” landforms were unsuitable for building this kind of facility. Karst refers to subsurface dissolution of limestone and dolostone bedrock, resulting in sinkholes, caves, and spring landforms. Harvey Broome Group found numerous locations within the environmental report that were suggestive of karst landscape. For example, 11 of 13 total boreholes beneath the site contained voids ranging from 0.2 to 4.3 feet, and all at depths less than 40 feet. This is a concern for the safety of the plant, because voids can cause sinkhole formation and building structural collapse. The second major concern is that the applicant intends to collect stormwater from the entire site and route it into a large sinkhole just off the TRISO-X property. The sinkhole is located within the ED-1 exclusion area, which is a natural area within the industrial park with notable environmental value. This is an environmental concern, because any accidental discharges associated with accidents at the TRISO-X facility would essentially be conveyed immediately into the groundwater system. The next opportunity for involvement will be the publication of the draft Environmental Impact Statement in the next year or two.
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
Tell President Biden: Appoint a Climate Champion to FERC
"FERC is an independent federal agency that regulates the interstate transmission of fracked gas, oil, and electricity. As a result of its mission, FERC is set to play a critical role in efforts to clean up the energy sector, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and tackle the climate crisis. The problem is, FERC is supposed to have five commissioners overseeing its decisions but currently only has four.
"By statute, only three of FERC’s five members can be from the same political party. When there are only four commissioners, that can mean decisions are deadlocked and important policies and projects can’t move forward. Having only four members also increases the odds of policies and projects that hinder climate progress moving forward, a possibility we can’t afford.
"We need President Biden to take immediate action and nominate a fifth commissioner and for the US Senate to swiftly approve the President’s nomination."
Take action here.
Roots in South Knoxville
Saturday, April 22
12 PM - 2 PM
Dogwood Elementary
Knoxville, TN 37920
HBG and Inspiring Connections Outdoors (ICO) will have a table at this community event, featuring food, games, trail walks, and seep and plant swaps.
Interfaith Power & Light Climate Vigil
Saturday, April 22
12 PM
Mary Vestal Park
522 Maryville Pike
Knoxville 37920
The national organization is also hosting two webinars on April 17th & April 18th.
Advance Knox Priorities Survey
Share your vision for the future of development in the Knoxville region! The Advance Knox working group is coming to the end of its data collection process, and this survey is open until April 23.
Take the survey here.
Drive Electric Earth Day
Saturday, April 15 - Saturday, April 29
Various locations
There are five events in our region this month in downtown Knoxville, Orange Hat Brewery in Knoxville, Blount County, Oak Ridge, and Jefferson City.
TVA Listening Session & Board Meeting
Tuesday, May 9 & Wednesday, May 10
Norris, TN (Location TBD)
Sierra Club - Tennessee Chapter (SC-TN), Bull Run Neighbors, Appalachian Voices (App Voices), Beyond Coal Campaign Tennessee (BCCTN), Clean Up TVA Coalition, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM), Sunrise Movement, Tennessee Valley Energy Democracy Movement (TVEDM), Tennessee Interfaith Power & Light (TIPL), and other groups will be urging commenting and a large turnout for TVA’s Listening Session and Board Meeting near the soon-to-be-shut-down Bull Run Fossil Plant and a planned new Kingston combined-cycle natural gas plant and pipeline to replace the notorious Kingston Fossil Plant, where the calamitous coal ash spill and the sickened workers who cleaned it up awakened the nation to the dangers of coal ash contamination.
TVA will provide details on the venue(s) and times in the week before the Board Meeting. Commenters are allowed 3 minutes to speak (roughly 450 words) before being cut off. TVA no longer televises Listening Sessions. Sierra Club and others will provide guidelines and talking points for commenting.
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Environmental Newsflash
*** Note to readers about accessing these articles. Gift links provide a link that allows access for a single time, even if you have reached your limit.
Statement from Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous:
“ ‘The Tennessee Republican Party’s expulsion of Representatives Jones and Pearson are not only racist but undemocratic and unAmerican. There is a reason the First Amendment of the US Constitution explicitly protects the right to peacefully demonstrate, but it does not take a constitutional scholar to understand the motives of the Tennessee GOP in targeting these two Black leaders.
“ ‘The people of Tennessee deserve a state legislature that will listen to their demands and protect children and the public from the ongoing gun violence epidemic - not a state government that attacks our democracy and tries to strip away the rights of their political opponents. The Sierra Club and our members and supporters rise in support of the Tennessee Three, and we call on the Nashville Metro Council and the Shelby County Commission to reappoint Representatives Jones and Pearson immediately.’ ”
“Earlier this year the Tennessee Valley Authority made a final decision to replace its retiring Cumberland coal plant with a new gas plant and pipeline. As the coalition comment notes, TVA already has the second-largest planned gas buildout by the end of this decade, among all other major US utilities.
“ ‘Despite repeated warnings and concerns from advocates, impacted residents and environmental agencies, the pipeline company still managed to leave science at the door to submit a significantly deficient draft that failed to evaluate the environmental impact on our communities, public health and environment,’ Amy Kelly, Campaign Representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign said. ‘What FERC must do now is consider public input and by no means allow this pipeline company accompanied by TVA to begin construction.’ ”
“Stop Dirty Banks”: Bill McKibben & Ben Jealous on Ending Big Bank Funding for Fossil Fuel Expansion. Democracy Now, March 21.
 At the “Stop Dirty Banks in Oak Ridge” protest at Bank of America, co-organizer Dan Terpstra, second from left, and lead organizer Barbara Reeve, third from left, and friends held signs of the times. Photo by Todd Waterman. Watch this short video interview with Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous and Third Act founder Bill McKibben about recent actions to “demand the four biggest banks — Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Bank of America — stop financing the expansion of fossil fuel projects.”
In Conversation With Al Gore: “We can’t just sit back and wait for change to come.” Ben Jealous, Sierra Magazine, March 20.
Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous’s interview with Gore touches on the climate progress and shortfalls Gore has seen over his career, and emphasizes the roles young people, environmental justice, and businesses have to play.
“ ‘I genuinely believe that we are gaining momentum in multiple impressive ways, and we have all the tools and resources we need to turn the tide on this crisis. We are in the early stages of a “Sustainability Revolution” that has the magnitude of the Industrial Revolution coupled with the speed of the Digital Revolution. It is reshaping the world in many positive ways, transforming our relationship to businesses, to the environment, and to each other. The advances we are seeing in renewable energy, transforming transportation and mobility, the growing farmer-led movement for regenerative agriculture, and so much more are indicative of a fundamental shift.
“‘ This is what’s needed: a complete rethink of the relationships between business, investors, markets, governments, and all of us. Many people don’t realize or don’t believe that we can take action to deploy climate solutions without incredible costs. But the truth is we can, and these climate solutions actually save us money. They create good and green jobs, they make our environment cleaner, and they give us hope.’ ”
World is on [the] brink of catastrophic warming, U.N. climate change report says. A dangerous climate threshold is near, but ‘it does not mean we are doomed’ if swift action is taken, scientists say. Sarah Kaplan, Washington Post, March 20.
“The world is likely to pass a dangerous temperature threshold within the next 10 years, pushing the planet past the point of catastrophic warming — unless nations drastically transform their economies and immediately transition away from fossil fuels, according to one of the most definitive reports ever published about climate change.
“ ‘This report offers hope, and it provides a warning,’ [IPCC Chair Hoesung] Lee told reporters Monday. “The choices we make now and in the next few years will reverberate around the world for hundreds, even thousands, of years.
“Decades of delay have denied the world any hope of an easy and gradual transition to a more sustainable economy, the panel says. Now, only ‘deep, rapid and … immediate’ efforts across all aspects of society — combined with still-unproven technologies to pull carbon from the atmosphere — will be able to stave off catastrophe.”
“For the first time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed standards for limiting toxic forever chemicals in drinking water.
“The draft regulation, unveiled Tuesday, would target six types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that are known to be found in drinking water, setting legal limits for their presence.
“ ‘For the millions of people with PFAS in their tap water, strong national drinking water standards cannot come soon enough,’ Earthjustice attorney Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz said in a statement emailed to EcoWatch. ‘Today’s proposal is a necessary and long overdue step towards addressing the nation’s PFAS crisis, but what comes next is equally important. EPA must resist efforts to weaken this proposal, move quickly to finalize health-protective limits on these six chemicals, and address the remaining PFAS that continue to poison drinking water supplies and harm communities across the country.’ ”
“In most of the country, the electric buzz is about vehicle sales breaking records as the competition among automakers to deliver desirable and affordable models heats up. But here in the Southeast United States, the biggest quarterly EV market question is not how many EVs were sold – which lately has been a lot – but which state landed the latest multibillion-dollar investment in EV-related manufacturing.
“The Southeast lags behind the nation’s strong EV markets regarding supportive electric car, truck, and bus policies and regulations. As a result, it also lags behind national averages in passenger EV market share and medium and heavy-duty EV deployments. With all the EV-related manufacturing coming to the region, pressure is mounting in state houses to pass legislation that removes barriers and supports the expansion of EV charging infrastructure and EV ownership for consumers and fleet operators, so the products that companies are increasingly making in the Southeast can be purchased and driven by consumers and companies in the Southeast.
“The Southeast has much to gain economically from electrifying transportation. Because the region imports 100% of the gas and diesel used to power transportation and most electricity is generated locally, shifting to electric transportation will save consumers money at the plug and keep more of their transportation fuel dollars recirculating through regional and local economies.”
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. You can click on the gift link, which assumes that you plan to "gift" the journal or magazine or newspaper to someone, or you can "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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Founded by legendary conservationist John Muir in 1892, the Sierra Club is now the nation's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization -- with more than two million members and supporters. Our successes range from protecting millions of acres of wilderness to helping pass the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. More recently, we've made history by leading the charge to move away from the dirty fossil fuels that cause climate disruption and toward a clean energy economy.
The Harvey Broome Group (HBG) is one of four Sierra Club Groups within the Tennessee Chapter. HBG is based in Knoxville and serves 18 surrounding counties. HBG's namesake, Harvey Broome, was a Knoxvillian who was a founding member of the Wilderness Society and played a key role in the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Visit our website
Join HBG
Donate (click the Donate button on the HBG home page)
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