TCV Supports Federal Resilience Legislation
(Nashville, TN) –Tennessee Conservation Voters has announced its support for the National Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy Act (NCARS), bipartisan legislation being considered in Congress that aims to close our nation’s resilience gaps and protect communities and infrastructure from natural disasters. This summer, there has been deadly flooding in states like Missouri and Kentucky, raging wildfires in California and across much of the western U.S., and drought conditions throughout nearly half the country. NCARS would establish a federal chief resilience officer to lead the development of a first-ever national strategy aimed at improving the coordination, efficiency, and effectiveness of disaster preparedness programs and resources across the federal government.
“This piece of legislation is critical to delivering resources and expertise to prepare for the disasters we are seeing more frequently here in Tennessee,” Futtter said. From tornados to floods to wildfires, our state is at risk all times of the year, and we must be better prepared for the next disaster.”
TCV joins more than 500 other local and state officials, resilience experts, businesses, and organizations across all 50 states and the District of Columbia in calling on Congress to pass NCARS to better safeguard American lives and livelihoods from the impacts of increasingly frequent, intense, and costly disasters.
Key provisions of NCARS include:
- Creating a chief resilience officer within the White House to improve the coordination of federal resilience initiatives.
- Taking stock of federal barriers to enhancing climate resilience and identifying solutions to address them.
- Developing a national resilience strategy that better streamlines federal support, leads with science, puts nature to work, and addresses historical inequities.
- Equipping local leaders with the resources, data, and tools necessary to successfully plan for future risk to flooding and other disasters.
The legislation will help restore deteriorating parks and public lands nationwide.
Nashville, TN — The U.S. House of Representatives took an historic vote on July 22nd when it approved the Great American Outdoors Act, a bill that will invest in priority repairs at National Park Service (NPS) sites in Tennessee and across the country. In Tennessee alone, deferred maintenance needs total $288,288,338, just part of the multi-billion backlog threatening park resources and local economies. All Tennessee representatives signed the bill and President Trump is expected to sign as well.
The Senate passed the legislation by an overwhelming bipartisan vote in June. The bill will also address repairs on other public lands and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, an important tool that preserves access to public lands and provides resources to urban and rural communities for recreation facilities.
“Our parks and historic sites have been crumbling for years. This bill will help restore the integrity of these important places and the stories they tell including local parks here in Davidson County and national parks like The Natchez Trace Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in East Tennessee”, said Tennessee Conservation Voters President Barbara Futter. “We thank Rep. Jim Cooper, Rep. David Kustoff, Rep. Steve Cohen, Rep. Mark Green, Rep. DesJarlais, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, Rep. Tim Burchett, and Rep. Phil Roe for voting for the Great American Outdoors Act."
The legislation is the most significant investment in almost 65 years for national parks and public lands. Equally important, it will help our local community and businesses get back on their feet and will generate more jobs.
“Our local economies depend on the tourism dollars that our park sites generate. According to NPS, in 2019 alone, visitors spent $717 million in gateway communities across Tennessee,” said Futter. “Our parks need to be in good shape to ensure they’re accessible and safe for visitors, who in turn support our economy.”
Park tourism contributes over $41.7 billion to the national economy annually and supports over 340,000 jobs. This legislation has the backing of more than 900 organizations including local towns and cities, the recreation industry, veterans’ groups, hotel and lodging, infrastructure associations, preservation groups, hunters and anglers, conservation organizations, and local businesses.
The League of Conservation Voters released the 2019 National Environmental Scorecard. Since 1970, the Scorecard has been the primary yardstick for evaluating the environmental records of members of Congress and is comprised of key congressional votes on climate change, energy, public health, public lands, wildlife conservation and democracy.
The 2019 Scorecard is available for download here, in Spanish here, and online at scorecard.lcv.org.
Stewart Clifton, TCV's longtime lobbyist: "Tennessee has seen many conservation heroes in the last 50 years. And maybe 5-10 super-heroes! We lost Mack Prichard, one of those superheroes, in April. I lost a good friend who knew pretty much everything worth knowing about the best places in Tennessee. Mack was an inspiration to generations of conservation advocates and others. We admired his tenacity and vast knowledge! Mack served under eight Tennessee governors: Clement, Ellington, Dunn, Blanton, Alexander, McWherter, Sundquist and Bredesen."
At his retirement in 2008, Prichard was described by Governor Bredesen as the "conservation conscience" of Tennessee.
“Long-time (and the first!) State Naturalist Mack Prichard died in Cookeville last month. He retired from his position in 2008. Mack played a key role in conservation efforts across the state for many years. From the Mississippi to the North Carolina border, Mack was familiar with Tennessee’s special places. His enthusiastic and vivid sharing of wild lands and waters through guided outings and his voluminous store of slides and anecdotes made Mack a persuasive advocate. For some of Mack’s pictures, visit www.mackprichard.com , a legacy website curated by Friends of South Cumberland State Park.”
WATCHDOG NONPROFIT FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST CLARKSVILLE FOR WATER POLLUTION
In November 2019, a watchdog non-profit group called Tennessee Riverkeeper alerted the city of Clarksville of their intent to file a lawsuit claiming the city’s sewage treatment plant had illegally released 84 million gallons of untreated sewage into the Cumberland river. On January 24, a multi-million dollar lawsuit was officially filed with a reduced claim of 24 million gallons released over five years. The organization claims that these overflows violate the Clean Water Act.
According to their website, Tennessee Riverkeeper “monitors polluters and their pollution permits, responds to citizen complaints, and utilizes other methods to further protect the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers and their tributaries.” The organization was founded in 2009 by David Whiteside, the godchild of Robert F. Kennedy and an avid environmentalist. Whiteside stated to NewsChannel5 Nashville that “sewage is one of the biggest pollution threats to the Cumberland River. Tennessee Riverkeeper is seeking to reduce sewage pollution in the Cumberland Valley, and addressing Clarksville’s issues would go a long way in cleaning up our river.”
Untreated sewage and unsafe wastewater handling pose a special risk to America’s waterways. No amount of this waste should be released into our rivers. Yet due to aging infrastructure, our water treatment plants are rife with problems.
American Rivers sums it up best, saying:
"When Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, the federal government began making significant investments to modernize sewage treatment infrastructure. Today, many of the plants built with that initial investment are near the end of their effective lives. There are 600,000 miles of sewer pipes across the country and the average age is 33 years. The American Society of Civil Engineers has given America’s wastewater infrastructure a “D” grade overall."
When combined with poor infrastructure, untreated sewage can leak into our waterways, posing a significant health risk. This sewage can contain anything from pharmaceuticals and pesticides to bacteria and viruses that cause infectious diseases.
According to a national river conservation organization called American Rivers, “3.5 million Americans get sick each year after swimming, boating, fishing, or otherwise touching water they thought was safe.” That is why it is important to fight for clean water and hold local and state governments accountable.
Access to clean water is a human right. The citizens of Tennessee deserve a government that protects and promotes our environment, instead of actively harming it. In a release on January 29, city officials responded by saying: “the city of Clarksville is aggressively improving its entire wastewater collection and treatment system and has spent more than $130 million since 2010 on construction of a new sewage treatment plant and other upgrades.”
If this is the case, why are the leaks occurring? Once again, no amount of wastewater or sewage escaping is acceptable, considering the potential pathogens that could be released and the harmful side effects that could ensue. The city believes that the money that will be tied up in the lawsuit would be better spent continuing to work on the infrastructure that needs updates, but this lawsuit would never have been filed if Clarksville had simply taken the steps necessary to avoid water pollution. Whiteside stated that “if Clarksville had been doing a better job and treating the sewage infrastructure problems more seriously over the past decades, then we would not be in a position where Riverkeeper had to sue them.”
It is important that we support groups like Tennessee Riverkeeper that are ensuring accountability. Sometimes it may be hard to keep track of the depth of environmental issues in Tennessee, but there are many dedicated people attempting to keep an eye on the problems and prevent future degradation. If no one is looking, mistakes or decisions will go unnoticed and continue to occur. Clarksville has let the community down by allowing these leaks to occur. Rivers, tributaries, and lakes are all public goods that we must protect for the benefit of everyone involved. Regardless of how it turns out, this lawsuit has brought attention to the actions of an organization that was previously unwatched.