The Front Porch Blog

BLOGGER INDEX

JW Randolph

Raised 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.

Scenic Vistas Vote Delayed One Week

Thursday, March 14th, 2013 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

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 Senate Energy, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Committee will take up the bill first at 9:30 AM on Wednesday.

The House Subcommittee on Agriculture and Natural Resources is scheduled to vote at 1:30 the same day.

These committee offices have told us that they are hearing from a LOT of people who are working to protect our mountains. Keep up those calls! Talking points below…

Senate Committee Members:
Chairman Steve Southerland (R-Morristown)/615-741-3851
Mae Beavers (R-Mt Juliet)/ 615-741-2421
Jim Summerville (R-Dickson) / 615-741-4499
Mike Bell (R-Riceville) / 615-741-1946
Charlotte Burks (D-Monterey) / 615-741-3978
Ophelia Ford (D-Memphis) / 615-741-1767
Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) / 615-741-6682
Dolores Gresham (R-Somerville) / 615-741-2368
Frank Niceley (R-Knoxville) / 615-741-2061

House Committee Members:
Chairman Ron Lollar (R-Bartlett) / 615-741- 7084
Curtis Halford (R-Dyer) / 615-741-7478
Andy Holt (R-Dresden) / 615-741-7847
Judd Matheny (R-Tullahoma) / 615-741-7448
Billy Spivey (R-Franklin) / 615-741-4170
John Tidwell (D-New Johnsonville) / 615-741-7098
Ron Travis (R-Dayton) / 615-741-1450
Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville) / 615-741-1997 [This is a “Thank you!” as Representative Gilmore is a cosponsor of the Scenic Vistas bill.]

Tell these legislators your name and let them know you are a Tennessean who cares about protecting our mountains. And please pass this along, so that legislators hear from as many Tennesseans as possible.

Talking points and bill information below…
(more…)

Tennessee Votes on Scenic Vistas Tomorrow. CALL TODAY!

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013 | Posted by JW Randolph | 2 Comments

Call today and Urge Tennessee Legislators to Protect the Beauty and Economic Vitality of the Cumberland Plateau.

Tennessee legislators are scheduled to take up a critical vote tomorrow on the Scenic Vistas Protection Act — a good bill with broad, bipartisan support that would help one of Tennessee’s most important assets – our mountains.

Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) will be carrying the bill (HB 43 / SB 99) in the House Subcommittee on Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Senator Lowe Finney (D-Jackson) in the Senate Committee on Energy, Agriculture, and Natural Resources.

Appalachian Voices urges you to call committee members and ask them to support the common sense “Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act (HB 43 / SB 99)“.

House:
Chairman Ron Lollar (R-Bartlett) / 615-741- 7084
Curtis Halford (R-Dyer) / 615-741-7478
Andy Holt (R-Dresden) / 615-741-7847
Judd Matheny (R-Tullahoma) / 615-741-7448
Billy Spivey (R-Franklin) / 615-741-4170
John Tidwell (D-New Johnsonville) / 615-741-7098
Ron Travis (R-Dayton) / 615-741-1450
Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville) / 615-741-1997 [This is a “Thank you!” as Representative Gilmore is a cosponsor of the Scenic Vistas bill.]

Senate:
Chairman Steve Southerland (R-Morristown)/615-741-3851
Mae Beavers (R-Mt Juliet)/ 615-741-2421
Jim Summerville (R-Dickson) / 615-741-4499
Mike Bell (R-Riceville) / 615-741-1946
Charlotte Burks (D-Monterey) / 615-741-3978
Ophelia Ford (D-Memphis) / 615-741-1767
Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) / 615-741-6682
Dolores Gresham (R-Somerville) / 615-741-2368
Frank Niceley (R-Knoxville) / 615-741-2061

Talking points and bill information below… (more…)

President Obama Focuses on Energy Jobs

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

Climate, Energy, Efficiency Feature as Key Pieces of SOTU

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.

About the only energy industry the President didn’t throw a verbal bone to was the coal industry. But that doesn’t mean Appalachia isn’t directly implicated in some of the President’s new proposals.

Perhaps most importantly for our region, was how enthusiastically the President pushed rapid American investment in energy efficiency, saying:

I’m also issuing a new goal for America: let’s cut in half the energy wasted by our homes and businesses over the next twenty years. The states with the best ideas to create jobs and lower energy bills by constructing more efficient buildings will receive federal support to help make it happen.

We live right here in the Saudi Arabia of energy waste – the southeastern United States. As such, Appalachian Voices staff and members listened to this proposal with great interest. Energy efficiency is the lowest hanging fruit to negate and replace declining coal demand. It is cheap, clean, and creates loads of good jobs while lowering electricity demand. Few places are better suited to take advantage of the enormous potential of energy efficiency than Appalachia and the southeastern United States, and efforts to use our resources more wisely could provide an out-sized benefit to our historically wasteful region…
(more…)

Governor Haslam’s Moment

Wednesday, January 16th, 2013 | Posted by JW Randolph | 3 Comments

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has come a long way since his election in 2010. This year, he could become the first governor in the nation to lead his state away from mountaintop removal.

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.

What we stand to save The Issue: Mountaintop removal is bringing down more Tennessee mountaintops every year, leaving behind devastated landscapes and poisoned water. In Tennessee, not only do we love our mountains, our economy depends on them. Our topography-driven tourism industry brings in more than $14 billion to our state every year and employs more than 175,000 Tennesseans. Tennessee has lost 85 percent of its coal mining jobs since 1985 due to an increase in the percentage of production that comes from surface mining, as well as an overall decline in production. We don’t need to blow up our mountaintops to mine coal.
(more…)

Thankful for My Mountains. Our Mountains.

Monday, November 26th, 2012 | Posted by JW Randolph | 2 Comments

App Voices’ Tennessee Team was recently able to team up with the amazing folks at Southwings to do something that I have not ever done in my eight years of fighting mountaintop removal – get an aerial, in-person view of the American tragedy that is mountaintop removal. I was able to take some photos, and video, which we’ll be posting right here on the Appalachian Voice website this week. Professional photo/videographer and all-around great guy Paul Corbit Brown (of “Coal Country” fame) was able to join us as well and shoot some beautiful photographs, which he has generously offered to share with us.

Here’s just a preview of what is BEAUTIFUL about Tennessee’s mountains, right alongside some of the horrors happening right here on our incredible Cumberland Plateau. Please feel free to share these, credited to Southwings/Appalachian Voices.

The bottom line is this. The coal industry likes to say that there is no mountaintop removal in Tennessee. These images are further proof that our mountaintops are in fact removed right here in Tennessee, and we need to pass a law to stop them. The Scenic Vistas Protection Act is the best way that we can protect Tennessee and Tennessee’s communities.

Taking flight above Jacksboro, TN, looking over Norris Lake and Cross Mountain. We are right at peak fall colors on the plateau.
Heading into the air

This (a topless Zeb Mountain, among others) is what awaited us
Ugly Zeb ridge

More below…
(more…)

AV, Citizens Groups Oppose TVA’s Rush to Judgement

Friday, October 19th, 2012 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

>>>Proud to join Sierra and TCWN on this important effort. It’s a simple choice. TVA should be putting money into energy efficiency programs rather than trying to extend the life of an expensive, inefficient, dirty coal plant like Gallatin. – jw<<< TVA would give the public only thirty days to weigh in on project that could raise bills

Nashville, TN – Yesterday afternoon the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced it will issue an Environmental Assessment (EA) for proposed upgrades at its Gallatin Fossil Plant outside of Nashville, Tennessee. The Sierra Club, Tennessee Clean Water Network and Appalachian Voices responded by calling on TVA not to sink over $1 billion into the aging plant for new scrubbers without fully considering cleaner and cheaper options and without adequate public input in the process.

The draft EA issued by TVA gives members of the public only thirty days to weigh in on the massive project with no opportunity for a public hearing. Instead, local and national groups are urging TVA to complete a much more comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement, extend the comment period, open up the discussions for public hearings and provide key background documents supporting its assumptions.

“With cleaner, safer, and more affordable energy options available to us, it is vital that the TVA takes steps to fully examine a proposal that affects not just the air we breathe and the water we drink, but also how much money its customers have to pay to fund these unnecessary and hugely expensive upgrades,” said JW Randolph, Tennessee Director of Appalachian Voices. “TVA says it wants to be a leader on energy efficiency but it’s investing in more pollution. This project is taking us in the wrong direction.”
(more…)

TVA Can Negate Coal Plants, Save Billions

Monday, August 20th, 2012 | Posted by JW Randolph | 1 Comment

Energy Efficiency can lead TVA to Cost, Energy, and Emission Reductions. Soon!

An exciting new Synapse study shows us that TVA has much better options than continuing to operate and retrofit its dirty, aging fleet of coal-fired power plants. TVA currently operates 39 boilers, which would cost nearly $12 billion to retrofit. These costs do not reflect potential controls for carbon pollution. If TVA does choose to pursue retrofits on these boilers, the study finds that 33 of those 39 boilers will be “deeply non-economic on a forward going basis.” That is, power from these boilers will be more expensive than market based electricity, thus rendering them uneconomical to operate.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) must soon decide whether it will, in the next few years, spend nearly $12 billion to retrofit its aging fleet of coal-fired power plants in order to meet modern pollution standards, plus billions more to run those plants into the future. The majority of these plants are far in the red: with the projected required pollution controls, they will cost more to run than they bring in in revenue. Rather than passing billions in expenses to ratepayers to keep these plants online, TVA should be exploring ways to retire these non-economic plants as quickly as possible.

And there are some excellent job-creating, energy reducing retirement strategies for TVA to pursue. In fact, the data suggests that TVA could save billions and curb pollution by making common sense, achievable investments in energy efficiency. TVA themselves identify a 1.2% energy reduction as their “high achievable” energy efficiency reduction. Synapse took this number and applied it to potential cost savings vs coal plant retrofits. It turns out that 1.2% energy reduction could meet all projected demand growth until 2030. The study also looks at particular coal plants in the fleet, such as Galatin. The numbers they found are astounding…

(more…)

Chattanooga Shows the Southeast How It is Done on Energy Efficiency

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

Outgoing Mayor Saves Million$ and Creates Jobs by Mandating 25% Energy Reduction

Chattanooga's Hobby 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 democratically elected best outdoor town in America, ranked as one of the 25 places to visit worldwide in 2012, and now – being a regional leader in energy efficiency.

The Times-Free Press summarizes:

Just over 40 years ago, Chattanooga had the nation’s “dirtiest” air. Fifteen years ago, it was the nation’s new “environmental city.” Two years ago, city officials created an office with the specific mission of becoming a “sustainable” city.

This week, Chattanooga’s mayor enacted a real plan.

Mayor Littlefield’s executive order (which you can read here) calls for a 35% electricity reduction in City buildings, projects, and programs as part of a larger 25% overall energy reduction.

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.

It’s the right thing to do- Sustainability is a priority for our local government and we want to lead by example. We know that many residents and businesses choose to move to Chattanooga because of the reputation our city has in regards to sustainability- we want to foster this movement where it makes sense. For the local government, that means starting at home. There are also big economic savings associated with energy efficiency that will ultimately save money, allowing us to utilize our tax payer dollars more efficiently.

Mayor Littlefield and his office are emphasizing the economic benefits that the people of Chattanooga can expect as these changes are implemented… (more…)

Water Week: Day 1

Monday, July 30th, 2012 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

This week we’ll run through a series of images and articles which we weren’t able to squeeze into our fantastic upcoming water-themed issue of The Appalachian Voice. Enjoy, and please leave your thoughts in the comments! – peace, jw

US Coal: Keeping the Lights On…In Chinese Boardrooms?

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

As American Coal Exports Skyrocket, Chinese Companies Look To Buy Up Appalachia

Much of the financial infrastructure for companies operating Appalachian surface mines may soon be in China, along with an increasing amount of Appalachian coal.

On May 7, Guizhou Guochuang Energy Holding Group said it had raised 3.9 billion yuan in a private placement to be used mainly to acquire and develop Triple H Coal Company, making it the first Chinese company to invest in coal in America…

I want to put this into a context for other Tennesseans. The United States exports ten times as much coal as we mine every year in Tennessee. We don’t need to continue mining mountaintops in our state to provide infrastructure, jobs, or electricity. What’s more, Tennessee congregations, citizens, and campuses are working together to make Tennessee the first state to ban mountaintop removal by passing the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act in the state legislature. The bill would ban surface mines on virgin ridges above 2000 feet in the state.

Meanwhile, Triple H Coal – the company which looks to be in Chinese hands soon – is the only remaining Tennessee-owned company with active surface mining permits above 2,000 feet. In other words, assuming the deal to buy out Triple H is finalized, if Tennessee politicians talk about opposing the scenic vistas bill, they are talking about protecting companies that are leaving their pollution in Tennessee, but are sending most of the benefits (both mineral and financial) either out of state, or out of the country.

Tennessee coal makes up less than 1% of TVA’s coal purchases. Most coal from the Volunteer State is shipped by rail to South Carolina and Georgia. Unfortunately for Appalachian citizens, in the near future much of the financial infrastructure associated with nearby coal operations may no longer be locally invested either. It certainly doesn’t sound like these Chinese investors plan to stop with Triple H either…

(more…)

VICTORY: Alexander, Hagan, Rockefeller vote for Clean Air

Thursday, June 21st, 2012 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

Inhofe Resolution fails despite support of Virginia Senators Webb, Warner

lamar Big news out of the Senate as Senator Inhofe’s most recent effort to stop clean air protections (SR 37) was killed by a vote of 46 to 53. Much more on the specifics of the legislation here. A handful of Republicans, including Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, did the right thing by voting this bill down. This was despite the fact that Inhofe has been connected with groups running attack ads against his fellow Republican regarding this vote. Other Republicans who voted correctly alongside Senator Alexander were Senators Ayotte (NH), Brown (MA), Collins (ME), and Snowe (ME).

Most Democrats opposed the resolution, including West Virginia Senator John Rockefeller. This was following a moving floor speech by the Senator on the future of coal, and their need to embrace change. Senator Rockefeller has traditionally worked in lockstep with the coal industry. However, his blunt advice to them, perhaps for the first time, conjured memories of the late West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd. In some of his final public statements, Byrd had warned that the coal industry needed to adapt and change to have a strong future.
(more…)

Appalachian Viewpoint: The Conservative Conservationist

Monday, April 16th, 2012 | Posted by JW Randolph | No Comments

<<< Friends, we're thrilled to share this exclusive piece from Jim Dipeso of ConservAmerica (formerly “Republicans for Environmental Protection”) on the conservative case for stewardship. Former White House advisor Van Jones offers the progressive viewpoint in the upcoming issue of The Appalachian Voice newspaper. I hope you’ll join me in welcoming Jim and ConservAmerica to the Front Porch! We look forward to your contributions anytime. – jw>>>
—
by Jim Dipeso, ConservAmerica

What is a conservative after all but one who conserves, one who is committed to protecting and holding close the things by which we live… And we want to protect and conserve the land on which we live—our countryside, our rivers and mountains, our plains and meadows and forests. This is our patrimony. This is what we leave to our children. And our great moral responsibility is to leave it to them either as we found it or better than we found it. – President Ronald Reagan

President Ronald Reagan spoke those eloquent words in 1984. Reagan was a man of the land. On trips to his beloved Rancho del Cielo, he spent much time outdoors enjoying the hills and horizons.

(more…)

Older Posts

Newer Posts