As the planet hurtles toward an irreversible climate tipping point, natural gas projects will further devastate the environment.
"...Let's take the Tennessee General Assembly as a case in point. As in other red states, our legislature has taken misinformation rebranding to new levels, legally defining methane as "clean energy." It has passed pre-emptive legislation that prevents local governments from rejecting a pipeline or even regulating its safety. In Tennessee, anyone who disrupts the construction of a pipeline has committed a Class C felony.
"The gas-fired fever dream gripping the South is completely at odds with the need to decarbonize how we get our energy," said the Southern Environmental Law Center's Greg Buppert. "Natural gas — methane — isn't some climate elixir. It's just another dirty fossil fuel that pollutes communities and heats up the planet."
The so-called Southeast Supply Enhancement pipeline won't reach Tennessee, but that doesn't mean we're safe from the dangers and destructions of pipeline and methane-plant construction. As WPLN's environment reporter Caroline Eggers reported in December, the Tennessee Valley Authority — which provides electricity to most of Tennessee and parts of six other Southern states — has built or approved eight new gas plants just in the last three years. The T.V.A. is building out more new methane-power infrastructure than any other utility in the United States and has locked most of the local utility companies it serves into 20-year contracts.
We don't have time for political obfuscation. We don't have time for our utilities' stubborn reliance on fossil fuels, despite their dangers. We certainly don't have time for state officials to ignore their constituents' choices regarding energy sources in their own communities..."
"...Let's take the Tennessee General Assembly as a case in point. As in other red states, our legislature has taken misinformation rebranding to new levels, legally defining methane as "clean energy." It has passed pre-emptive legislation that prevents local governments from rejecting a pipeline or even regulating its safety. In Tennessee, anyone who disrupts the construction of a pipeline has committed a Class C felony.
"The gas-fired fever dream gripping the South is completely at odds with the need to decarbonize how we get our energy," said the Southern Environmental Law Center's Greg Buppert. "Natural gas — methane — isn't some climate elixir. It's just another dirty fossil fuel that pollutes communities and heats up the planet."
The so-called Southeast Supply Enhancement pipeline won't reach Tennessee, but that doesn't mean we're safe from the dangers and destructions of pipeline and methane-plant construction. As WPLN's environment reporter Caroline Eggers reported in December, the Tennessee Valley Authority — which provides electricity to most of Tennessee and parts of six other Southern states — has built or approved eight new gas plants just in the last three years. The T.V.A. is building out more new methane-power infrastructure than any other utility in the United States and has locked most of the local utility companies it serves into 20-year contracts.
We don't have time for political obfuscation. We don't have time for our utilities' stubborn reliance on fossil fuels, despite their dangers. We certainly don't have time for state officials to ignore their constituents' choices regarding energy sources in their own communities..."
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