Cherokee Group
(Chattanooga)
Where we meet:
Greenspaces
63 E. Main Street
Chattanooga, TN  37211


Green|Spaces

Contact Us:
Cherokee Group Organizers:
Group Chair: Elizabeth Tallman
Vice Chair: Jami Brown
Treasurer: Barbara Hurst
Secretary: Barbara Kelly
Communication: Tami Freedman, Elizabeth Tallman

Think Globally Act locally!

The city of Chattanooga had embarked on a mission to reduce its carbon emissions. The city has developed action teams to allow citizens to work in areas of expertise or interest. To learn more about it, follow this link. Chattanooga Green Committee If you want to get involved. Go to the Greener Chattanooga website Greener Chattanooga and join an Action Team!


Ex. Comm:
Elizabeth Tallman elizabethjamestallman AT hotmail.com
Jami Brown jdbrown5188 AT yahoo.com
Barbara Kelly Secretary
Barbara Hurst Treasurer
Mike Bascom mikeb37415 AT lycos.com
Michelle Hineman
Davis Munger
Tami Freedman Communications
Dr. Henry Spratt henry-spratt AT utc.edu

Tennes-Sierran Newsletter:
Go Paperless!  Sign up to receive the TS electronically.

The September-October 2009 issue of the Tennes-Sierran



Contact Your Elected Officials:

U.S. Legislative Information:

Congressman Zack Wamp

thomas.loc.gov

Tennessee Government:

The Governor

legislature.state.tn.us

State Senators

Senate Environ. Comm.

State Representatives

House Environ. Comm.

OPINION PIECE: "COAL MUST EMBRACE THE FUTURE"

By Sen. Robert Byrd

December 03, 2009

For more than 100 years, coal has been the backbone of the Appalachian economy. Even today, the economies of more than 20 states depend to some degree on the mining of coal. About half of all the electricity generated in America and about one quarter of all the energy consumed globally is generated by coal.

Change is no stranger to the coal industry. Think of the huge changes which came with the onset of the Machine Age in the late 1800’s. Mechanization has increased coal production and revenues, but also has eliminated jobs, hurting the economies of coal communities. In 1979, there were 62,500 coal miners in the Mountain State. Today there are about 22,000. In recent years, West Virginia has seen record high coal production and record low coal employment.

to see the rest of this article follow the link

Byrd Speech

New Year Celebration Potluck, Jan. 3rd, 5:00 pm.

A change from our usual last Monday of the month!

Location: Hurst home, side of SignalMtn

NEW YEAR CELEBRATION SUPPER:
Come together for fun and fellowship at Barbara and Bill Hurst's home on Signal Mountain for a pot luck supper. We'll be celebrating a full year of the Cherokee Group's re-formation and looking forward to the next! (Also a "white elephant" gift exchange - if you'd like to participate bring something old/interesting/fun to reuse/recycle, oops, I mean exchange!)

call Barbara at 423.886.9503 for directions or e-mail her at barbaraduckhurst@hotmail.com. (This event takes the place of our Program Meeting for December.)

Bring your friends and family!!

Mountain top Removal

upcoming events

Thursday Jan 21 @ 6:30 PM - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. debates Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship - Univ of Charleston, West Virginia

Monday Jan 25 - Large rally against mt top removal in Charleston WV. Details will be posted at www.mountainjustice .org

Thursday Feb 11 - I Love Mountains Day, Frankfort KY - Rally, march and citizen lobbying starting at 8:30 AM

Interesting links:

Video: Ex miner Jim Foster speaks about living below a mountaintop removal mine in W. Va. Jim recently passed away - this short film is a wonderful tribute to a great man.

Foster Video

Video: Robert F. Kennedy speaks against mountaintop removal in West Virginia on Dec. 7 as coal trucks try to drown him out by blasting their air horns.

Kennedy Video

Next Excomm Meeting January 13, 6:00 p.m.

Discussion of chapter business

Location: GreenSpaces, 63 E. Main Street, Chattanooga

Green|Spaces is in the first "art district" block after you turn off Market on to Main, last building in the first block on the left. Parking in on the street -- well lit and safe -- (kitty corner from fire hall.)

The General meeting is held the last Monday of each month.

Alert! Coal River Mountain

Last week, Massey Energy began blasting Coal River Mountain in preparation of a massive mountaintop removal coal mining operation. Coal River Mountain is one of the last intact mountains in the range, and the site of a proposed 328-megawatt wind farm. With each passing day, Coal River Mountain’s potential to provide 85,000 households in West Virginia with safe and renewable energy, 700 long-term green jobs, and $1.7 million in annual county tax revenue is erased by Massey Energy and their investors like JPMorgan Chase.

The destruction of Coal River Mountain is also endangering lives. Blasting could destabilize a nearby coal slurry pond, unleashing eight billion gallons of toxic sludge on schools, homes, and workplaces. In the case of a dam failure, citizens would have only minutes to evacuate before a 50-foot wall of sludge bears down on their community.

Please contact the Obama Administration and ask them to stop Coal River Mountain from becoming a 6,000-acre wasteland and instead support safe and renewable sources of energy.

Conservation Discussion January 6, 6:00 pm

Discussion of local conservation issues

Location: GreenSpaces, 63 E. Main Street, Chattanooga.

Conservation, legislation and political topics facing the group will be up for discussion at 6 pm before our Program Meeting each month. Come with questions or concerns as ideas are formulated for club action.

Sierra Club Work Day! December 27, 1:00 to 4:00pm

for location see below

we're asking folks in the green community to come to a "work day" at her place, helping her clear several trees that recently fell and to see what a sustainable lawn may look like

For info on her home location, please contact:
Elizabeth Tallman, 423.619.0379, elizabethjamestallman AT hotmail.com
or
Lana Sutton, 423-364-9397, lanasutton AT gmail.com

Wish to learn more about Caara's trials and tribulations with a sustainable lawn? Then Follow this link

Caara's Lawn

Sierra Club Outings! January 17, 10:00 am

Lula Lake Landtrust on Lookout Mountain January 17

For this moderate day hike in the Lula Lake Landtrust on Lookout Mountain, dress warmly in layers, wear comfortable hiking shoes, carry sack lunch and water. We'll be exploring part of the trail on Lookout Mountain.

Contact Jeremy gazaway_77 At yahoo.com for details.

For more outing follow this link
More Outings

House Party!

Coal Country is the stunning new documentary about mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. This powerful film reveals the shocking true cost of coal, as it takes us through the personal stories of coal miners, and the residents of Appalachia who have lost their mountains, their homes, and their history to mountaintop removal mining. Our party will be one of hundreds of Coal Country House Parties (http://www.sierraclub.org/coalcountry) held nationwide by Sierra Club supporters the week of November 10 through 14.


Thousands of people will be gathering in their communities to watch Coal Country and take action against mountaintop removal. You can be a part of this crucial effort to end mountaintop removal mining, and help move America beyond coal, by attending my Coal Country House Party! Join us for a screening, a discussion, and a special celebrity call-in featuring leaders from the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, organizers from the Appalachian coalfield (including those featured in the film), and special guests! After the film, we'll take action together to end mountaintop removal mining.

Help get the word out about this important documentary:  

For more information, visit www.coalcountrythemovie.com.

January General Meeting Jan. 25 7:00 p.m.

Come to the MOVIES: "King Corn" -- a humorous and touching documentary about two friends who move to Iowa and grow an acre of corn, meanwhile learning about the massive problems facing our whole biologic/agriculture/economy/food system from the hold that corn now has.

Free and open to the Public

The Tennessee Legislature: 

Important Stuff

  • End Mountaintop Removal (MTR):
     Mountaintop removal is a terrible, destructive method of coal mining in which entire mountains are literally blown up, the resulting rubble is dumped into valleys and huge ponds of toxic sludge are created. Mountaintop removal is devastating hundreds of square miles of Appalachia, polluting the headwaters of rivers that provide drinking water to millions of Americans and destroying a distinctly American culture that has endured for generations.
    http://www.ilovemountains.org/      http://www.sierraclub.org/petition/mountaintop
    http://www.sierraclub.org/wildlands/wildlandsatrisk/mountaintop.asp

  • Solid Waste Activist speaks to Chattanooga Hamilton County NAACP
    On Thursday 17 December at 6 p.m. at the Annual Meeting of the Chattanooga Hamilton County NAACP, Bruce Wood, a member of the Executive Committee of the Nashville Branch of the NAACP and President of BURNT a 21 year old citizens environmental group, will discuss Tennessee solid waste reform for 10 minutes with a brief question and answer period.

  • Cherokee National Forest:
    The Tennessee Chapter supports the expansion of wilderness in the Cherokee National Forest.  Take action at: Tennessee Wild.  Also see America's Wild Legacy

  • Save Caara's Natural Lawn Project, Saturday December 27
    Time and Location: 1-4pm, East Lake at her home.
    Let's Help an embattled "green" citizen with some effort from the green community a few days after the holidays.
    Caara wants to have a natural and sustainable lawn. In California (and we hoped in Chattanooga) this would be lauded. Low carbon footprint from little/no mowing and natural plant species. Instead she's being hauled into court with threats of the city mowing down her native habitat and charging her the fees.

  • Directions to our meeting place:
    We meet at GreenSpaces, at 63 E. Main Street, about a block off Market Street—it’s on the left after you turn from Market. If you get to the fire hall, you just passed it on the left. Parking on the street is fine—this is located in the developing south side arts district. If you’re lost, call Barbara Kelly at 423-718-5009 for directions. We want you to attend!

  • The Cherokee Group and Sunny 92.3 thank our Riverbend Green Giveaway Sponsors!

To subscribe to our listserv:

  • send an email with the following message to listserv@lists.sierraclub.org
    subscribe tennessee-cherokee-news yourfirstname yourlastname - it will add the email address you sent from.
    OR Fill out the form at: http://www.sierraclub.org/memberlists
    OR Send request to TENNESSEE-CHEROKEE-NEWS-request@lists.sierraclub.org

 

 

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