Environment
U.S. House Democrats send sweeping climate, health and tax legislation to Biden
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Friday cleared Democrats’ long-sought climate, health care and tax package, sending it to President Joe Biden for his signature. The roughly $750 billion measure is much smaller than the $2 trillion reconciliation package the House originally sent to the Senate in November. The final product left out dozens of […]
Murfreesboro files suit against Middle Point Landfill, alleging new evidence of harmful runoff
Lawyers for the city of Murfreesboro have filed suit in federal court against the owners of Middle Point Landfill — the latest development in an ongoing dispute pitting one of Middle Tennessee’s fastest growing suburbs against the nation’s No. 2 provider of trash services, Republic Services. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in […]
Biden lays out new funds for localities on climate, but no national emergency yet
With U.S. Senate negotiations over climate funding stalled, President Joe Biden on Wednesday directed additional spending to help states and cities manage climate disasters — resisting calls from many congressional Democrats to take more aggressive executive action like a declaration of a national climate emergency. Biden also announced steps executive agencies are taking to expand […]
U.S. Supreme Court’s recent environmental ruling renews spotlight on TVA
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling limiting the power of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon emissions that cause climate change has renewed the spotlight on the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public utility and Tennessee’s primary source of electricity. The case involved EPA efforts to implement a key provision of the Clean Air […]
U.S. Supreme Court curbs federal power to regulate greenhouse gases, in blow to Biden
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday the Environmental Protection Agency does not have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants, siding with a group of Republican attorneys general and coal companies in a major blow to the executive branch’s power to curb climate change. The opinion was a victory for the Republican-led states that […]
Plans for wastewater treatment plant cause uproar in Hickman County
One January day in rural Hickman County, drivers on Highway 7 noticed an inconspicuous sign posted on a bridge crossing Lick Creek, a pristine waterway used for recreation and farming. Few dared to stop and read, since the bridge obscured the view of incoming traffic, until one curious local hiked to the sign, took a […]
Study shows a TVA change to solar and wind energy would cut costs to ratepayers
The Tennessee Valley Authority could save ratepayers billions of dollars by investing in solar and wind energy sources, according to a study released this week. A study by Synapse Energy Economics commissioned by the Sierra Club and made public this week shows TVA could save its ratepayers nearly $10 billion in energy costs by abandoning […]
Tennessee Valley Authority whistleblowers sue agency in federal court
Three former Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear oversight managers who were removed from their posts after alerting the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to repeated safety concerns and violations are now suing the utility in federal court. Melody Babb, Deanna Fultz and Mark Richerson filed suit against TVA late last week in U.S. District Court. They contend […]
Tennessee Supreme Court hears arguments over Kingston coal ash illnesses in workers
With workers twice rejecting settlement offers and federal court judges shooting down multiple appeals, Jacobs Engineering Inc., on Wednesday turned to the Tennessee Supreme Court in an attempt to escape financial responsibility for its role in the alleged poisoning of the Kingston coal ash disaster workforce. Sickened Kingston disaster workers and survivors of workers who […]
After controversy, shakeup at Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
A shakeup inside the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has led to the abrupt terminations of key leadership staff after a months-long stretch in which the agency drew the ire of both Republican and Democrat lawmakers over plans to clearcut forests — and lost a major legal fight. No longer with TWRA as of Monday are […]
Memphis council presses TVA for study to no avail
The Memphis City Council passed a resolution urging the Tennessee Valley Authority to study the potential impacts of having coal ash transported through and stored in south Memphis communities. Before the afternoon council meeting, council members on the Parks and Environment Committee recommended passage of the resolution requesting that the TVA conduct a Supplemental Impact […]
6th Circuit shoots down immunity for TVA coal ash spill contractor Jacobs Engineering
A federal appellate court on Wednesday struck down a last-ditch appeal by a Tennessee Valley Authority contractor accused in the mass poisoning by radioactive coal ash waste of the utility’s Kingston disaster workforce. The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Jacobs Engineering Inc. cannot ride the coattails of TVA governmental immunity because TVA itself […]