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. We need seventeen votes. Its going to be extremely close, and every single vote will count.
Please take 5 minutes to call your State Senator. Ask them to “Restore and Pass” the Scenic Vistas Protection Act today.
For more background on what happened in Committee, see here. For more background on the bill, see here.
Find out who your State Senator is, and then use the list below to give them a call! Go, fight, win!
| Senator | District | Phone # |
| Barnes, Tim | 22 | (615)741-2374 |
| Beavers, Mae | 17 | (615)741-2421 |
| Bell, Mike | 9 | (615)741-1946 |
| Berke, Andy | 10 | (615)741-6682 |
| Burks, Charlotte | 15 | (615)741-3978 |
| Campfield, Stacey | 7 | (615)741-1766 |
| Crowe, Rusty | 3 | (615)741-2468 |
| Faulk, Mike | 4 | (615)741-2061 |
| Finney, Lowe | 27 | (615)741-1810 |
| Ford, Ophelia | 19 | (615)741-1767 |
| Gresham, Dolores | 26 | (615)741-2368 |
| Harper, Thelma | 19 | (615)741-2453 |
| Haynes, Joe | 20 | (615)741-6697 |
| Henry, Douglas | 21 | (615)741-3291 |
| Herron, Roy | 24 | (615)741-4576 |
| Johnson, Jack | 23 | (615)741-2495 |
| Kelsey, Brian | 31 | (615)741-3036 |
| Ketron, Bill | 13 | (615)741-6853 |
| Kyle, Jim | 28 | (615)741-4167 |
| Marrero, Beverly | 30 | (615)741-9128 |
| Massey, Becky Duncan | 6 | (615)741-1648 |
| McNally, Randy | 5 | (615)741-6806 |
| Norris, Mark | 32 | (615)741-1967 |
| Overbey, Doug | 8 | (615)741-0981 |
| Ramsey, Ron | 2 | (615)741-4524 |
| Roberts, Kerry | 18 | (615)741-1999 |
| Southerland, Steve | 1 | (615)741-3851 |
| Stewart, Eric | 14 | (615)741-6694 |
| Summerville, Jim | 25 | (615)741-4499 |
| Tate, Reginald | 33 | (615)741-2509 |
| Tracy, Jim | 16 | (615)741-1066 |
| Watson, Bo | 11 | (615)741-3227 |
| Yager, Ken | 12 | (615)741-1449 |
JW RandolphRaised on the banks of the Tennessee River, JW's work to create progress in his home state and throughout Appalachia has been featured on the Rachel Maddow Show, The Daily Kos and Grist. He served first as Appalachian Voices’ Legislative Associate and then Tennessee director until leaving to pursue a career in medicine in 2012.
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Be sure to let senators know that you support the ORIGINAL bill, not the amendments by Senator Mike Bell and the TN Envr Committee. Their amendment states that if mining sites pile the rubble back to the “approximate original contour line” of the mountain than technically the mountain was never removed. Tennessee deserves better than this, don’t know think? SB 577 as it stands now includes this amendment and therefore has no teeth. Senator Stewart’s original bill would actually protect ridgelines over 2000 feet before being blown up, and would therefore have less ill health effects downstream.