Dawn Hartley

I am beginning a sustainability journal by writing down the least and most sustainable practices I engaged in at the end of each day. So far, it raises my level of consciousness and gives me a chance to see some positives.

TVA is accepting public comment on their Integrated Resources Proposal until April 8.   If you go to https://tvairp.com you can learn about the various proposals for how our energy will be sourced up through 2038. There is a bubble on the right that says "get involved" and that is where you can go to leave a comment. The bar graphs under "Our Portfolios" are interesting, especially if you change the "incremental energy" line to "total energy by 2038". I don't understand it perfectly, but I am surprised at how small the yellow (for renewables) portion of the graphs are in almost all of the scenarios, even by 2038. 

Since reading the Session 1 material, I have been thinking a lot about the iceberg model. I really like the idea for a group activity under Give it a Try on page 32. Would anyone else be interested in this? One event that I thought of was the failure of the transit proposal here in Nashville. 

One of the ways I become more informed about environmental justice issues in Tennessee is by participating in a group called TIPL, which stands for Tennessee Interfaith Power and Light. Their updates often shine a light on relevant proposed legislation that I am then able to learn about and write to council members and other legislators. I wanted to share this message from Paul Slentz of TIPL that offers an opportunity to learn more about state-wide proposed legislation, as well as tonight's chapter meeting which will provide information about carbon taxes.
1.  4th Monday TIPL Nashville Chapter Meeting:  March 25, 6:30-7:45, Holy Name Catholic Church, 521 Woodland Ave. (corner of 6th and Woodland in East Nashville -- park in back parking lot and come to closest door on 6th Street). Lynn Jobe, TIPL member and active with Citizens' Climate Lobby, will lead a conversation about:

 "The role a revenue neutral carbon tax can play in addressing the climate crisis"  

-- how would it work?

-- how would it help reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

-- what is currently being proposed in Congress?  How does it fit into the Green New Deal initiative?

-- what lessons can be learned from the failure to pass a carbon tax in the state of Washington or the "yellow jackets" uprising against a fuel tax in France?

Lynn is a retired engineer with Corning who has returned to his native state.  He is very knowledgeable about this topic and has a clear presentation.

We will also discuss upcoming TIPL advocacy/education opportunities (Earth Day Festival; Climate March; State Legislature; etc.)

Please email and/or call your state representative and state senator to express your opinion on the two pieces of legislation below.  Both would take away the rights of local communities or utilities to enact common sense Earth care measures.  

To contact your legislators, go to this link: FIND MY LEGISLATOR.  Go to the "Find My Legislator" box on the right side of the screen.  When you put in your address, photos of your state representative and of your state senator will come up.  Click on the photo to get the phone number.  Click on email address under photo to send an email.

Bills HB1021 (Rep. Lynn) / SB0431 (Sen. Bell) prevent local governments from enacting policies regulating plastic bags and other single-use containers.  

We are all aware of how plastics are devastating our land, creeks, rivers, and oceans. 

TDOT, which deals with tons of plastic litter every year along our highways, was even pushing cloth bags at grocery stores around the state two Fridays ago!!  

Local efforts to move our economies away from one-use plastic containers should be encouraged, not discouraged.  

Bills HB 0377 (Rep. Boyd) / SB0308 (Sen. Lundberg) prohibit local utilities from implementing an "opt-out" procedure for voluntary Bill Round Up programs that mostly go for weatherization and energy efficiency projects for low-income households.  (The way a round up program works is that a customer's utility bill is rounded up to the next dollar, e.g. a $95.65 bill would go to $96.00, and the difference goes to support really good community programs.  They are entirely voluntary.) 

Here is why it is so important for utilities to be able to have an "opt-out" process for customers:   Nationwide, opt-out procedures have over 70% customer participation rates, while opt-in procedures have less than 10%.  If NES were to institute a bill Round Up program (as we are urging them to do), the annual difference between opt-out vs. opt-in would be over one million dollars.  With opt-out, well over a hundred low-income households would be helped each year.  With opt-in, it would only be a handful.  A little voluntary pocket change each month can make a huge difference for our energy and affordable housing burdened neighbors.

Let's keep letting our state representatives/senators know the value of these Utility Bill Round Up programs with a customer "opt-out" mechanism.

In care of this good Earth,