Melissa Williams, melissa.williams@sierraclub.org
KNOXVILLE, TENN. – The TVA Board of Directors last Wednesday afternoon posted details about the format of their new “less formal” pilot listening session, set for today, the day before its next board meeting in Tupelo, Miss.
Sierra Club, which has more than 30,000 members and supporters across the Tennessee Valley, has serious concerns about the structure of these sessions and the barriers it sets up for people who deserve to be heard by the leadership of their electricity provider.
The late posting of the session’s details did not give people enough time to plan for attendance —even if they were able to attend a 2:30 p.m. meeting on a weekday—or to address topics the board will discuss during its meeting the following day.
The new format also removes same-day speaker registration and the session will not be streamed live so that those unable to travel or take time off from work can still be informed.
Sierra Club in mid-October sent the TVA Board of Directors a letter offering suggestions for how the public listening sessions could be run, including advertising it more broadly and well in advance of the board meeting; increasing the time limit for each speaker, or allowing organizations to pool their time to make a longer presentation about a specific topic; and having a start time convenient for the community and public to attend. None of these suggestions were implemented.
In response, Bonnie Swinford, organizing representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in Tennessee, released the following statement:
“Public involvement is vital to the quality of TVA decision making and should be a vital part of TVA’s culture. So, while we appreciated the board’s stated goals of making the listening session less formal and for seeking ways to allow the directors to consider more public comments, it seems today’s session has fallen short of meeting them.
“Our communities should be able to engage directly with TVA’s leadership and to have their questions and concerns respectfully considered in person.
“We urge TVA to revoke this ill-considered decision and to commit to being more accessible to the public going forward. Our families and business are directly affected by TVA leaders’ decisions, every single day, and we deserve to be meaningfully included in the process behind those decisions.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.