Posts Tagged ‘Tennessee’
ACTION: Tennessee Senate Votes TODAY on Mountaintop Removal Ban
The TN Senate will pick up debate on SB 0577 this evening at 6PM EST, and you can watch right here Today, the Tennessee State Senate is poised to be the first full legislative body in history to vote on a mountaintop removal ban. This is a vote which mountain advocates can very well win.…
Read MoreProminent Citizens Speak Up To Protect Tennessee Scenic Vistas
(Clockwise from top): Victor Ashe, Rev. Gradye Parsons, Anne Davis Prominent Tennessee citizens are lending their voices of support to the original language of the Scenic Vistas Protection Act, a bill currently in the state legislature that is aimed to stop mountaintop removal coal mining in Tennessee. In the state’s top daily newspaper, The Nashville…
Read MoreUpdate on Mountain Advocacy in Tennessee Legislature
Dawn Coppock, Legislative Director of LEAF has a spot-on letter in the Knoxville News Sentinel. Reprinted below. Can an engineer make a mountain as well as God can? The coal industry says, “Yes”; Tennesseans loudly say, “No”; and the state Senate is still ducking, stalling and faking. I advocate for the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection…
Read MorePrayer for our Mountains on the Floor of the Tennessee Senate
This morning, in the opening prayer on the floor of the Tennessee State Senate, Coffee County Pastor Michael McGloughlin spoke these beautiful prayer on the need to protect Tennessee’s heritage, mountains, and scenic vistas. If you have 6 minutes, please watch all the way through.
Read MoreWhat Happened in the Tennessee Legislature Today?
Mountaintop Removal Bill Goes to the Senate Floor We’re still alive! Appalachian Voices and other Tennessee coalition partners have moved the conversation on banning mountaintop removal to the floor of the Tennessee State Senate. The Senate Energy and Environment Committee this morning vote 8-1 to move a bill forward. BUT, its a bit complicated. Before…
Read MoreSenate Committee Misses Historic Opportunity to Protect Tennessee Mountains
PRESS STATEMENT CONTACT: J.W. Randolph, Appalachian Voices, 202-669-3670, jw@appvoices.org The Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, introduced by state Sen. Eric Stewart, was designed to stop surface coal mining that alters or disturbs a ridgeline over 2,000 feet of elevation, effectively banning mountaintop removal coal mining in the state. On Wed., Feb. 29 the State Senate…
Read MoreTennessee Coal Industry Should Read the Bill
Why does the coal industry need to make things up? Because they are on the wrong side of the facts, they are on the wrong side of public opinion, and they are on the wrong side of history. Fortunately, they don’t have a defensible case to continue doing mountaintop removal here in Tennessee. Unfortunately, too…
Read MoreURGENT: Tennessee Scenic Vistas Bill to be Voted on Wednesday
Bill will first go before Senate Environment Committee The Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, which will make Tennessee become the first state to put a ban on high-elevation surface mining techniques such as mountaintop removal, faces an important hurdle this Wednesday (2/29) in the Senate Environment Committee. We expect the vote to be very close,…
Read MoreWe Can End Mountaintop Removal in Tennessee
By Dr. Minnie Vance Chattanooga, Tenn. In Tennessee, we love our mountains. These peaks and valleys inform our southern heritage, enhance our connection to family and represent the best of what we call state and country. Our mountains are home. Nevertheless, we too are facing down the barrel of continued mountaintop removal mining. Unfortunately, in…
Read MoreThe Sewanee Coal Seam: The Dirt on East Tennessee’s Toxic Coal
By Jenni Frankenberg Veal One of the most toxic coal seams east of the Mississippi River has cast a dark shadow over the land and people living in its boundaries. Landon Medley, a resident and former county commissioner of Van Buren County, Tenn., has witnessed the impacts of mining in the Sewanee coal seam firsthand.…
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