Air (50)
An area of high pressure lingered in the upper atmosphere over the U.S. Midwest and Northeast in June 2024. This pushed warm air toward the surface and trapped it there—a weather phenomenon meteorologists call a heat dome. The heat wave reached the Southern Appalachians, as seen in this model generated from NASA Earth Observatory data. NASA
How climate change is heating up the weather, and what we can do about it
This article was originally published by The Conversation.
The heat wave that left more than 100 million people sweating across the eastern U.S. in June 2024 hit so fast and was so extreme that forecasters warned a flash drought could follow across wide parts of the region.
Prolonged high temperatures can quickly dry soils, triggering a rapid onset drought that can affect agriculture, water resources and energy supplies. Many regions under the June heat dome quickly developed abnormally dry conditions.
(The average temperature of June was about 7 degrees above normal in Knoxville as reported by Weather Underground).
The human impacts of the heat wave have also been widespread. In Ohio and Pennsylvania, emergency room visits for heat-related illnesses surged. Several Massachusetts schools without air conditioning closed to protect kids and teachers. In New York and New Jersey, electric wires sagged in the heat, shutting down trains into and out of New York City and leaving commuters stranded.
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Judge rules against climate-change denier in UT records suit
Written by JJ Stambaugh
This is an excerpt from a 1966 article in Mining Congress Journal indicating mining interests were already aware of the potential for climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions.
Circuit Court ruling: Private emails on public servers don’t always equal public records
KNOXVILLE — A Knox County judge ruled in a lawsuit that spun off from the “Coal Knew, Too” scandal that emails sent or received by a University of Tennessee professor aren’t public records.
Circuit Court Judge William T. Ailor turned aside a bid made by Knoxville-based writer Kathleen Marquardt to review the emails of Chris Cherry, a professor with UT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, according to court records.
Marquardt filed the Public Records lawsuit four years ago, but the case didn’t actually make it into a courtroom until a pair of hearings held earlier this year.
According to Judge Ailor’s opinion, the bare fact that Cherry and freelance reporter Élan Young (who was also employed by UT at the time and currently writes for Hellbender Press) exchanged emails using their UT accounts “does not raise the emails themselves to the level of being public records.”
The origins of the lawsuit date back to 2019, when Cherry rescued some old coal industry trade journals that a colleague was about to toss in a dumpster after cleaning out an office.
In one of the discarded issues of the Mining Congress Journal was an article from 1966 that contained a statement from the then-president of a coal mining organization explaining that fossil fuel use was causing an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide that would cause vast changes in the Earth’s climate through global warming.
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Learn about TVA’s switch from coal to natural gas at June 12 teach-in
Momentum builds slowly for TVA’s post-coal plans
Written by Ben Pounds
Supercomputer simulation of plasma turbulence in a spherical tokamak, which is an experimental machine designed to harness the energy of fusion. Image courtesy of Walter Guttenfelder, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Filippo Scotti, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory via DOE.
Fusion research, natural gas, solar power and battery improvements at heart of TVA’s plans to wean itself off coal
OAK RIDGE — The Tennessee Valley Authority is phasing out coal and announcing developments tied to other energy sources at two plants that sit on either side of Oak Ridge.
One of the options includes a fusion test site. Scientists have long pursued fusion energy, though the technology remains in infancy and has yet to generate electricity anywhere.
The TVA coal plant on Edgemoor Road in the Claxton community in Anderson County closed Dec. 1 last year. TVA remains uncommitted to any plans for most of the land around the plant. A company recently announced, however, that it plans tests connected to fusion power in a small part of one of Bull Run’s old buildings by 2028. It will be an experiment and not generate power directly.
Meanwhile, TVA plans to retire Kingston Fossil Plant on Swan Pond Road in Harriman by the end of 2027. Its nine coal-fired units power about 818,000 homes. To replace the power generated at the plant, TVA plans to build a new complex at the Kingston plant’s site, combining natural gas, solar power and battery storage.
TVA plans to retire all its coal plants by the 2030s.
TVA plans for Bull Run Fossil Plant site remain hazy
Written by Ben Pounds
A public playground near the site of the since-decommissioned Bull Run coal plant in Claxton, Tenn. Tennessee Valley Authority is weighing options for the site’s future. Abigail Baxter/Hellbender Press
Solar production and public green space remain options; coal ash questions remain
CLAXTON — Tennessee Valley Authority will demolish most structures at Bull Run Fossil Plant but has not yet shared plans for the ultimate disposition or reuse of the property.
Bull Run Fossil Plant was a coal-fired plant in the Claxton community, located just outside of Oak Ridge in Anderson County, Tenn. The plant opened in 1967. TVA closed it in 2023, and plans to phase out all its coal fired plants by 203.
The utility and its spokesman Scott Brooks have listed the scrubbers, coal handling structures and the large chimney, nicknamed the “lighthouse” by locals, as structures that will likely come down.
TVA has listed some possibilities for the site, including battery storage, park areas, “economic development” and a synchronous condenser, which is a device meant to keep the overall grid's power supply stable without generating any power of its own. This last option would involve keeping and repurposing the turbine building. TVA has not committed to any of these ideas.
UPDATED: In much of Tennessee Valley, focus now turns to possible flooding as record snowpack rapidly recedes
Written by Thomas Fraser
A child enjoys a snow day on the Norris Commons in the aftermath of the most potent snowstorm to affect the area since 1996. Abigail Baxter/Hellbender Press
UPDATED 1/24: Focus turns to flooding as snow melts and heavy rains approach
30-year winter storm hits Tennessee Valley ahead of a vicious cold front
KNOXVILLE — A widespread and potent winter storm hit the central Tennessee Valley on Jan. 15-16, disrupting travel and commerce as residents grappled with the most significant snowstorm to hit the area in 30 years. Arctic air subsequently flooded the region Jan. 18-19 with lows in Knoxville hitting 0º.
As of Jan. 24, most snow had melted across the Knoxville area, washed away in part by moderate rain and temperatures in the 50s. A flood watch is in effect for most of East Tennessee through the evening of Jan. 25. Two to 3 inches rain could fall across the area, compounding runoff from melting snow, according to the National Weather Service.
At least 36 people died as a result of the winter storm in Tennessee.
ORNL wants to leave watercraft carbon emissions in its wake
This Caterpillar in-line 6-cylinder marine diesel engine will be the subject of research and development for efficient, more climate-friendly marine propulsion with methanol fuel. Genevieve Martin, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy
OAK RIDGE — The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Caterpillar Inc. have entered into a cooperative research and development agreement to investigate methanol as an alternative fuel source for four-stroke internal combustion marine engines. The collaboration supports efforts to decarbonize the marine industry, a hard-to-electrify transportation sector.
As the U.S. continues to seek ways to reduce environmentally harmful greenhouse gas emissions, methanol is an attractive fuel alternative to diesel because it reduces carbon emissions. Methanol also reduces emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. In addition, methanol’s relatively high energy density makes it easier to store on marine vessels than gaseous fuels meaning it can be more easily integrated into overall existing engine design and operation.
TVA’s Bull Run coal plant goes dark in Oak Ridge. More fossils to follow?
Written by Ben Pounds
Bull Run Fossil Plant in Anderson County, Tennessee, is officially offline as of Dec. 1, 2023, according to the Tennessee Valley Authority. Abigail Baxter/Hellbender Press
TVA retires coal-fired plant; just four more to go
OAK RIDGE — The Tennessee Valley Authority took another step toward its goal to phase out all its coal plants by 2035.
TVA officially announced Bull Run Fossil Plant, at 1265 Edgemoor Road in Anderson County’s Claxton community, closed on Friday, Dec. 1. The TVA board decided to close the plant four years earlier on Feb. 14, 2019. Now the utility says it plans to retire all of its coal plants by 2035. The utility has cited the environment and efficiency as reasons for closing the plants. TVA plans to create solar and natural gas plants to replace the power formerly generated by coal. TVA has not made final plans for the Bull Run site.
“It’s not an easy decision to retire a plant, but it’s one we must make to secure a reliable and cleaner energy future as our generation portfolio and load shapes change,” Jacinda Woodward, senior vice president of power operations, said in a press release.
Global temperatures are off the charts for a reason: 4 factors driving 2023’s extreme heat and climate disasters
Written by Michael Wysession
2023’s weather has been extreme in many ways. AP Photo/Michael Probst
This story was originally published by The Conversation. Michael Wysession is Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
Between the record-breaking global heat and extreme downpours, it’s hard to ignore that something unusual is going on with the weather in 2023.
People have been quick to blame climate change – and they’re right: human-caused global warming plays the biggest role. The weekslong heat wave that started in June 2023 in Texas, the U.S. Southwest and Mexico would have been virtually impossible without it, one study found.
However, the extremes this year are sharper than anthropogenic global warming alone would be expected to cause. September temperatures were far above any previous September, and around 3.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.75 degrees Celsius) above the preindustrial average, according to the European Union’s earth observation program.
July was Earth’s hottest month on record, also by a large margin, with average global temperatures more than half a degree Fahrenheit (a third of a degree Celsius) above the previous record, set just a few years earlier in 2019.
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Biden-sponsored legislation trickles down to cap defunct Big South Fork oil wells
ONEIDA — Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area (NRRA) received $1 million for the orphaned well reclamation project, funded through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This project is part of a nationwide effort to restore natural habitats and address climate change impacts.
In fiscal year 2023, President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act will provide $52 million to the National Park Service to fund projects throughout the country related to ecosystem resilience, restoration, and environmental planning needs.
The Big South Fork project will plug and reclaim six orphaned well sites throughout the park in Tennessee and Kentucky. The project, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, will mitigate abandoned mine drainage and close open mine portals at Big South Fork NRRA.
Methane pollution from many of these unplugged wells is a serious safety hazard and is a significant driver of climate change, with methane being more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
“Plugging the wells removes abandoned aboveground oil or gas production equipment, improves visitor safety and protects park groundwater and other park resources,” said Big South Fork NRRA Superintendent Niki Stephanie Nicholas in a press release.
“The restoration of these sites through these investments will stabilize access roads and production sites and promote ecosystem health by planting native plant species.”
— National Park Service
Here’s an updated summer primer for the end of the world as we know it
Written by Rick Vaughan
The Earth’s sun is seen in this NASA image. Scientists said July might be the hottest month in 100,000 years.
The global heat wave of July 2023 has spared Southern Appalachia. So far.
KNOXVILLE — July 2023 has so far offered a scary look at global climate change around the world, and the month is already one for the record books.
This month will likely end up being the hottest July on record, globally speaking. That comes after quantitative conclusions from multiple scientists that the past week was, globally, the warmest in 100,000 years.
The Southern Appalachians have generally been spared from the heat settling on vast portions of the country and world, but that will soon change. The National Weather Service predicts higher than average temperatures flirting with 100 degrees in the Tennessee Valley next week. Record-breaking temperatures are possible. The average high temperature for July in Knoxville is 87 degrees.
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Southern enviros again take aim at budding TVA strategy to replace coal with fossil gas
Written by Anita Wadhwani
Warnings posted in Dickson County near Tennessee Gas Pipeline property. John Partipilo/Courtesy Tennessee Lookout
Environmental groups sue Tennessee Valley Authority over proposed new power plant
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.
NASHVILLE — A trio of environmental groups filed suit against the Tennessee Valley Authority, claiming the utility violated federal law by failing to properly evaluate climate, environmental and financial impacts of a proposed new gas-fired plant in Cumberland City, Tennessee.
The lawsuit, filed in a Nashville federal court this month, also claims that TVA quietly inked a deal with an international pipeline company to supply the gas-fired plant, even as it publicly went through the motions of seeking input on alternative sources of power to replace the Cumberland Fossil Plant, its aging coal-fire facility located about 60 miles northwest of Nashville.
The groups are seeking an immediate halt to construction on the gas plant and an order forcing the utility to revise the existing environmental impact study used as the basis for moving forward with the gas-fired plant.
“Our country’s largest utility has gamed the system to fast-track dirty energy projects and that’s why we’re going to court to stop it,” Gaby Sarri-Tobar, a campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “TVA needs to be held accountable for its reckless pursuit of a new fossil gas plant in the midst of the climate emergency.”
To critics’ dismay, TVA plans to replace coal with natural gas. The utility also plans to double its solar supply.
Written by Ben Pounds
Citizens call on TVA to stop passing gas
KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee Valley Authority in coming years plans to add both natural gas and solar plants to its portfolio to meet what it says are rising energy demands.
TVA’s Board of Directors laid out the federal utility’s plan in a meeting at Norris Middle School in May. Environmentalists at a previous hearing criticized the utility’s focus on natural gas rather than renewables or other measures. Other people, largely tied to local power providers, argued that a switch to renewable energy would be unreliable.
TVA showed a map in a press release following the meeting, showing four proposed natural gas plants and two proposed solar plants. Two of those natural gas plants would be in Tennessee while the other two are planned for Alabama and Kentucky. It stated these new plants will total 3,800 megawatts. It also spoke of its System Operations Center, set to open in fall 2024 in Georgetown to manage the utility’s grid. TVA also stated a desire to research nuclear technologies.
“Our region is experiencing growth at six times the national average, which means we must invest in our current power system and build new generation so we can continue meeting our region’s demand,” said TVA president and CEO Jeff Lyash.
Several citizens criticized TVA’s focus on natural gas plants and new pipelines at the listening session May 9. Among them was Clinton resident and activist John Todd Waterman.
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Enviros cheer new Biden plan to limit fossil pollution
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on May 11 proposed new carbon pollution standards for coal and gas-fired power plants to protect public health and reduce harmful pollutants.
EPA’s proposed standards are expected to deliver up to $85 billion in climate and public health benefits over the next two decades and avoid up to 617 million metric tons of total carbon dioxide (CO2) through 2042.
EPA estimates that in 2030 alone, the proposed standards will prevent more than 300,000 asthma attacks; 38,000 school absence days; 1,300 premature deaths; 38,000 school absence days; and 66,000 lost work days.
Dr. Stephen A. Smith, Executive Director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy: “Individuals and communities across the country are doing whatever they can to protect against the immense dangers of climate pollution and are depending on the federal government to do the same. Federal limits on climate pollution from power plants are a critically needed and long overdue protection for public health and the environment.
“We will be reviewing the proposal and hope that the proposal hits the mark in giving our communities the safeguards they need from deadly fossil pollution.”
EPA will be taking comments on these proposals for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
— SACE
Oak Ridge churches harness ‘God's gift of sunshine’
Written by Ben Pounds
This view shows the main sanctuary from the side building that hosts Oak Ridge Faith Lutheran Church’s solar panels. Ben Pounds/Hellbender Press
How two East Tennessee churches went solar, and can help your congregation do it, too
OAK RIDGE — On two church roofs on the same road in this small town that helped harvest the atom, panels catch the sun’s rays for electric power.
Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike and Faith Lutheran Church at 1300 Oak Ridge Turnpike added solar energy at different times through different companies using different federal incentives. ORUUC added its panels in 2015; Faith Lutheran added them in March 2022. Members of both churches involved in the solar projects spoke to both the challenges involved and the benefits. They said their churches benefited both financially and spoke of the benefits to the planet.
“I really hope it works well for us as well as for the environment,” said George Smith, associate pastor at Faith Lutheran. “I’m fond of thinking that we’re turning God’s gift of sunshine into a gift of cash for ministry.”
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The electric-vehicle revolution brings environmental uncertainty at every turn
Written by Tim Lydon
As demand for electric vehicles soars, several roadblocks have emerged
This article was originally published by The Revelator.
Manufacturers, governments and consumers are lining up behind electric vehicles — with sales rising 60% in 2022, and at least 17 states are considering a California-style ban on gas cars in the years ahead. Scientists say the trend is a key part of driving down the transportation sector’s carbon emissions, which could fall by as much as 80% by 2050 under aggressive policies. But while EVs are cleaner than gas cars in the long run, they still carry environmental and human-rights baggage, especially associated with mining.
“If you want a lot of EVs, you need to get minerals out of the ground,” says Ian Lange, director of the Energy and Economics Program at the Colorado School of Mines.
SACE belays solar power on Global Climbing Day
Written by Thomas FraserMEMPHIS — Area residents were invited to a film screening of “Keep the Lights On” and a panel discussion at the Memphis Rox climbing gym with community members, local advocates and policy experts. The event, which ran from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, coincided with Global Climbing Day, and professional rock climbers Nina Williams, Manoah Ainuu (who recently summited Everest), Olympic Silver Medalist Nathaniel Coleman, and Fred Campbell hosted and participated in community and climbing-oriented events prior to the film screening and conversation.
The film follows Memphis Rox staff member and leader Jarmond Johnson, recounting his experiences with intermittent energy access growing up in South Memphis, his growth into a gang activist and mentorship role at Rox, and, ultimately, working with professional rock climber and environmental activist Alex Honnold (best known for the academy award-winning film, Free Solo) to bring solar energy to the gym. Following the screening, Jarmond and a panel of experts discussed takeaways from the film, and how equitable access to solar energy could help all Memphians keep their lights on.
— Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
SACE sees many silver linings in Senate climate bill; House passage expected
Written by Amy Rawe
A rainbow pierces gray skies during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. United Nations
Climate activists stress positives of Senate climate bill despite its shortcomings
Amy Rawe is communications director for Knoxville-based Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
KNOXVILLE — The U.S. Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), an estimated $430 billion bill, of which approximately $370 billion will be allocated to investments in clean energy and to address climate change.
It’s the single largest climate investment in U.S. history, and if it passes the House, will put the country on a path to be able to achieve roughly 40 percent emissions reduction from 2005 levels by 2030, reestablishing our influence in meeting the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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U.S. Supreme Court’s recent clean-air ruling renews spotlight on fossil-energy producers like TVA
Written by Anita Wadhwani
Supreme Court air-pollution ruling calls into stark context all that must be done
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.
KNOXVILLE — 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 Act in a challenge brought by 15 Republican-led states. That provision, which never went into effect, would have required existing power plants to shift from dirty sources of energy — such as coal — to cleaner sources, including solar and wind, as part of an urgent effort to reduce global warming.