Issue:
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is planning to build 8 Natural Gas plants around Tennessee. This would cause more pollution, decimate land with pipelines and plants, and increase utility bills.
Basics:
“TVA is building more gas plants than any other utility this decade, these toxic gas plants dirty our air and water, they are making our utility bills more expensive, warm the planet and fuel extreme weather.” (1)
Goal:
“Transform the Tennessee Valley Authority into a green, democratic utility by preventing new fossil gas development and accelerating a just transition to a fossil-fuel-free, affordable, and renewable energy system for all communities.” (1)
Context:
“The Kingston coal plant was the site of the largest industrial spill in US history. Instead of cleaning up its act, TVA wants to burden communities with a dirty gas plant and 122-mile pipeline. So, we’re demanding they pass on gas and build clean energy that’s safe for families and the environment.” (1)
Other Organizations in the Clean Up TVA Coalition:
- Knoxville DSA
- Center for Biological Diversity
- The Climate Reality Project TN State Coalition
- Third Act Tennessee
- Sunrise Movement Knoxville
- Memphis Community Against Pollution
- Mississippi Rising Coalition
- Sunrise Movement National
- Young Gifted & Green
- Sierra Club
- Energy Alabama
- One Knox Legacy Coalition
- Tennessee Interfaith Power and Light
- Protect our Aquifer
- Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
- Statewide Organizing For Community eMpowerment
- Memphis National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
- Sowing Justice
- Appalachian Voices
- Preserve Cheatham County
Acronyms:
- TVA – The Tennessee Valley Authority
- LPC – Local Power Company; i.e. the Nashville Electric Service (NES)
- IRP – Integrated Resource Plan; it is a document that TVA uses to publicize their understanding of what they will need resource wise to complete their duty to provide power
- Stakeholders – the people who actually pay TVA for goods & services, and the people to whom TVA has legal obligations
- RERC – Regional Energy Resource Council; it is a body convened by TVA to “provide guidance on how TVA manages its energy resources against competing objectives and values”
- FERC – the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
- EPA – The Environmental Protection Agency
- EIS – Environmental Impact Statement; these are government documents that outline the impact of a proposed project on its surrounding environment
- FOIA – Freedom Of Information Act; this act law that requires the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased or uncirculated information and documents controlled by the U.S. government upon request
- Federal Register – it is the official journal of the Federal Government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices
- ROD – Record of Decision
- NEPA – The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law designed to promote the enhancement of the environment. It created new laws requiring U.S. federal government agencies to evaluate the environmental impacts of their actions and decisions, and it established the President’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
