In late March, the Trump administration made a unique offer to power providers: send an email and get out of federal pollution restrictions. The Tennessee Valley Authority quickly signed up.
From nose bleeds to cancer: The public health risks of TVA’s gas buildout
The Tennessee Valley Authority is on track to construct eight methane gas plants by the end of the decade. The buildout is part of a fossil fuel system that starts with fracking and ends with burning.
Tennessee has 300 leaky, ‘orphaned’ oil and gas wells. A handful are about to be plugged for safety.
Abandoned gas wells — essentially deep holes in Earth’s crust that slowly spit out methane — will soon be capped in one of Tennessee’s federally-protected lands. The U.S. Department of the Interior announced funding Thursday to plug orphaned oil and gas wells in national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other public lands and waters.
‘Whiskey fungus’ is covering this Tennessee town. Jack Daniel’s ethanol pollution is to blame.
Two hours south of Nashville, black mold is spreading. Playground swings look gunky. Road signs are unreadable. Trees are dying. This is the scene unfolding in Mulberry, a small town in Lincoln County that borders the sprawling Jack Daniel’s whiskey operation — the food source for an alcohol-loving mold dubbed “whiskey fungus.”
Tennessee deferred from EPA’s smog reduction plan
Smog has historically been the term for smoke and fog. Today, the definition has a little more accountability. Smog is produced when sunlight mixes with pollution from the fossil fuel industry, cars and factories, and the technical term for it is ground-level ozone pollution.
TVA’s coal pollution causes 241 premature deaths each year, study finds
According to a new report from the Sierra Club, TVA’s remaining coal plants could cause more than 2,000 premature deaths in the next decade.
EPA might tighten an air pollution rule. Nashville would have to change.
The Environmental Protection Agency may soon crack down on the deadliest form of air pollution: fine particulate matter.
These Nashville neighborhoods are getting free trees this spring. Yours can be next.
Trees are essential infrastructure. In recent years, the science has become clearer on how trees reduce air pollution, flooding and heat. And just being near them improves mental and physical health.
Nashville gets three air quality alerts during ozone-promoting heat wave
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has issued four air quality alerts for elevated ozone pollution this week during an especially hot heat wave. Nashville just hit 100 degrees Wednesday for the first time in a decade.
Nashville is one vote away from ending vehicle emissions tests early next year
In 2018, Tennessee passed a law to eliminate vehicle emission testing. Six counties initially kept their mandates, but now Davidson County is the last to consider ending the long-standing annual requirement.
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