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Good morning, and welcome to your Tennessee Tuesday, our weekly holler from your Tennessee hills.
Drop us a note in the comments to say hello, let us know a bit about yourself, what you’re interested in and what stories we might be missing. It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Volunteer State in the world of energy, TVA and Congress, so let’s get right to it.
Victories!
Believe it or not, both houses of Congress, with support from both parties, are moving on important pieces of legislation to protect our mountains, and to promote energy efficiency.
As several Appalachian Tennesseans came to Washington, D.C., the bi-partisan Clean Water Protection Act was introduced by Congressmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Dave Reichert (R-WA), and already has more than 50 cosponsors from both parties and from all across the nation. The Clean Water Protection Act is a simple bill that would make it illegal for coal companies to perform the “valley fills” associated with mountaintop removal coal mining. Congressman Cooper (D-TN-05) and Congressman Cohen (D-TN-09) are both original cosponsors of the bill! You can call them using the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 to say “thanks for cosponsoring the Clean Water Protection Act, and for protecting our mountains.”
We had a fantastic victory in the U.S. Senate, where the Senate Energy Committee passed a bipartisan Energy Savings Bill (S 761) by a vote of 19-3. Senator Alexander sits on this panel and voted AYE, and you can call his office at 202-224-4944 to say “thanks for supporting S 761 and promoting energy efficiency for our country.” This bill, introduced by Senators Shaheen (D-NH) and Portman (R-OH), would save energy by improving building codes, while incentivizing industrial energy efficiency and promoting energy savings at federal buildings. That bill now moves on to the Senate floor while the House counterpart (HR 1616) awaits committee action.
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From the folks at 
Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), gave the following remarks regarding the Scenic Vistas Protection Act to the House Subcommittee on Agriculture and Natural Resources on Wednesday, March 20. Representative Johnson, despite being a freshman legislator in the minority, showed a tremendous amount of courage, even standing up to a hostile line of question from western Tennessean Andy Holt (R-Dresden). Representative Johnson highlighted the fact that people from across the ideological spectrum were coming together in support of protecting our mountains. 
I grew up outside of Birchwood, Tenn., in a log cabin my father built on the shores of the Tennessee River. Walking the hills and hollows of our state is how I learned what home means. Hiking and fishing out in the woods and waters is how I got to know the best of what our country has to offer, the best of what our state has to offer, and its how I got to know my family. These experiences taught me about freedom, self-reliance and responsibility.
When it comes to Tennessee, most everybody has their reason for supporting our mountains. Whether it is a liberal urban Democrat like Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN), or a mainline Republican like Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), its not a complicated equation. 
Yesterday, at the request of the sponsors, votes on the “Scenic Vistas Protection Act” were delayed one week, to the next Committee calendar on Wednesday, March 20th. 
The first “State of the Union” address of President Obama’s second term had a little something for everybody. The President was aggressive about the need to tackle the problem of climate change, while using broad economic language to describe the potential benefits of growth in solar, wind, energy efficiency, and increased oil and gas exploration and consumption.
The Man: Governor Haslam was born and raised in east Tennessee. He grew up in Knoxville, where the Great Smoky Mountains meet up with the majestic Cumberland Plateau. He would later become mayor of Knoxville, focusing on historic preservation and balancing the city’s budget. In 2010, he was elected for his first term as Governor of Tennessee, succeeding Democrat Phil Bredesen. During the campaign, Mayor Haslam spoke out against mountaintop removal, saying that while we needed to mine coal, he opposed the practice of mountaintop removal (video below). Now that his party has a super-majority in both houses of the state legislature, the Governor has greater opportunity to have an impact on policies adopted by the State House and State Senate.
The Issue: Mountaintop removal is bringing down more 
Tennessee has made a name for itself in the last few years by being one of the fastest improving states for energy efficiency, according to industry groups such as ACEEE. Specifically, Chattanooga has gained international notoriety for being the 
Appalachian Voices was privileged to sit down with Mayor Littlefield’s Sustainability Coordinator Heather Adcox to ask why the Mayor and the city of Chattanooga considered efficiency so important. Adcox’ reply was simple and straightforward.
Much of the financial infrastructure for companies operating Appalachian surface mines 
Most Democrats opposed the resolution, including West Virginia Senator John Rockefeller. This was following a 
