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State Developing “Volunteer” Climate Action Plan

Photo by Maxim Tolchinskiy on Unsplash

Tennessee officials are devising the state’s first-ever climate action plan thanks to federal funds through the Inflation Reduction Act. 

So far, 33 states have created and released climate plans, according to Climate Central, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to reporting on the changing climate. Tennessee’s big-four cities — Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga — all have individual plans. 

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) is now working with groups across the state for a greenhouse gas emission reduction plan, called the Tennessee Volunteer Emission Reduction Strategy (TVERS). 

The “volunteer” part of the name is more than a reference to the Volunteer State, one of Tennessee’s nicknames. The planning approach so far does not seem to favor any mandates to curb climate change. 

”Through TVERS, TDEC is focusing on voluntary or incentive-based activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants,” reads a website for the plan. “While other states have imposed mandates to reduce emissions, we hope to reach established goals through voluntary measures that may differ throughout the state.”

TDEC won $3 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in July to develop the statewide climate action plan. Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville each received $1 million to develop further plans. 

The state owes the EPA a draft of a greenhouse gas inventory by the beginning of next month, according to state documents. Tennessee has never published (and has maybe never conducted) an inventory of its greenhouse gas emissions. 

When Memphis officials measured the city’s greenhouse gases for its climate action plan in 2016, they found emissions here came from three major sectors: energy, transportation, and waste. 

Energy emissions were 46 percent of the total. The figure includes emissions from energy used in residential, commercial/institutional, and industrial buildings. Transportation emissions (42 percent) included passenger, freight, on-road and off-road vehicles. Waste emissions (12 percent) included solid waste disposal in landfills and wastewater treatment processes. 

The total greenhouse gas output that year here was about 17.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. An EPA calculator says that amount of emissions is equal to more than 44 million miles driven by gas-powered cars, more than 94,000 railcars worth of coal burned, and more than 2 trillion smartphones charged. The Memphis climate plan said “emissions are fairly comparable to, and even lower than, several other peer cities, including Nashville, Atlanta, Louisville, and St. Louis.”

Credit: City of Memphis

After turning in a cursory greenhouse gas emissions inventory, the state will then owe the EPA a draft climate action plan by March. Then, officials will have to turn over a comprehensive climate action plan.

The process mandates states to provide greenhouse gas emission reduction measures. These could include “transitioning to low-or zero-emission vehicles, reducing carbon intensity of fuels, and expanding transportation options (biking, walking, public transit).” For buildings, these could include “increasing energy efficiency through incentive programs, weatherization retrofits, building codes and standards, and increasing electrification.”

Climate change has been a particularly thorny political issue in Tennessee with the state’s GOP-dominated legislature. This year, the General Assembly legally defined natural gas as “clean energy,” fought building codes that would reduce electricity consumption, and blocked a weather infrastructure project that would have given real-time data in every county. 

In 2019, Gov. Bill Lee said he was was undecided as to whether climate change was real or not. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has battled companies on climate change issues throughout his tenure. But at least one Tennessee state government official was frank about climate issues during a presentation on the TVERS plan last month. 

“Reducing emissions will result in cleaner air and improve public health,” said Jennifer Tribble, director of TDEC’s Office of Policy and Planning. “Greenhouse gas emissions are also contributing to the warming of our climate and an increase in number and severity of extreme weather events, such as drought, forest fires and hurricanes. These effects have important consequences on human health, such as exposure to extreme heat. Reducing these emissions will improve our resilience to these impacts in the long-term.” 

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Opinion The Last Word

Environmentalists Applaud Passage of Inflation Reduction Act

The bill’s approval surprised many. (Photo: Quick PS | Unsplash)

Last week Congress approved the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. The bill does a lot of things, but environmentalists applauded its $350 billion package to address climate change and promote clean energy investments. Some said the bill has the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions across the nation by 40 percent by 2030. Here’s what some of those environmental advocates had to say about it.

“Change is coming. This bill is a historic commitment by the United States to regain a leadership position not only in addressing climate disruption but also in leading the clean energy technology revolution that is being unleashed.

While no single entity can take credit for the roller-coaster ride that led to the Senate [and the House later] passing this significant legislation, much credit must be given to the voters in Georgia. By electing not one, but two climate-focused Senate leaders in a runoff election in early 2021, these two Southern senators were absolutely necessary for creating this moment in history and shepherding the bill through the political tightrope in the Senate.”

— Stephen Smith (writing before the House passed the bill)
Executive Director, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

“In almost every Climate Reality training, I include a quote from the great American poet Wallace Stevens, who wrote: ‘After the final no there comes a yes / and on that yes the future world depends.’

Today, in Congress, there came a historic yes, with the House voting to follow the Senate and pass the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest climate bill the U.S. has ever seen. It is no great exaggeration to say that on this ‘yes’ our future world depends.

To help shape the climate measures that are included in this bill, our Climate Reality leaders and chapters held more than 150 meetings with legislators. Our friends and supporters contacted their representatives and policy-makers over 180,000 times. All with one simple message: Go big. Go bold. Act now. Yes, yes, yes.

There is much to celebrate. The IRA will supercharge the just transition to clean energy that is already underway across the country, transforming our economy while creating an estimated 1.5 million jobs and cutting costs for working families. Critically, the bill invests $60 billion in frontline communities hit hardest by fossil fuel pollution and the climate crisis, bringing clean air, good jobs, and better opportunities to those who have been subject to generations of environmental injustice.

The impact of this bill will ripple across continents. By putting the U.S. on the path to cutting global warming pollution 40 percent by 2030, the IRA helps keep the Paris Agreement alive and demonstrates to the world that we are committed to climate action for the long-term.

But for all the progress we will achieve through the IRA, there are provisions that require urgent attention and action. Fossil fuel interests forced painful concessions in negotiations, requiring the government to offer new areas for drilling in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as more oil and gas leasing on our public lands. Lawmakers are poised to take additional steps that would fast-track pipelines that communities — and Climate Reality leaders — have fought for years to block.”

— Al Gore
Founder and Chairman, The Climate Reality Project

“The historic passage of the Inflation Reduction Act makes renewable energy — which was already affordable and, in many cases, cheaper than gas — even more cost-effective. Even before today’s momentous vote, an independent study found that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) would save billions by replacing its aging, dirty coal plants with clean energy as opposed to gas.

Families across the Valley are seeing higher power bills this summer due to TVA’s over-reliance on fossil fuels. It should be a no-brainer for TVA to take advantage of this groundbreaking legislation by scrapping plans to recklessly spend billions on new gas plants and invest in clean energy sources instead.”

— Amanda Garcia
Tennessee Office Director, Southern Environmental Law Center

“The Inflation Reduction Act is by far the most consequential legislation for climate action that has ever passed. I think it will take some time to be able to process the scale and positive effects this will have on our collective future.

But the fight is not over, we’ll need to keep up momentum across the country and here in the Southeast. Paired with more federal, state, and local actions, we will be more equipped to face the most existential threat of our time: climate change.”

— Maggie Shober
Research Director, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

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News The Fly-By

Futurist: Companies Bet Big on Electric Transportation

REGENT’s seaglider is an all-electric, zero-emission “flying vessel” traveling at 180 miles per hour within 100 feet of the water’s surface. (Photo: REGENT)

Gas stations are as antiquated as CD players. Traffic jams are in the skies. Tourists flock to other planets.

That’s the world people described to Ford Motor Co. for its 10th-annual Looking Further With Ford trends report. But experts say many of these promising innovations will be pushed to avoid a not-so-promising future.

“Imagine a world where demands for food, water, and energy are outpacing supply, fueling widespread scarcity, and suffering across the globe,” reads the Ford report. “That’s the likely scenario as we know it. Experts project the global population will grow to 10 billion by 2050, and climate change has become so severe that the question now is no longer simply how to sustain this planet, but how to exit it.”

Moving people in the U.S. is the country’s largest source (29 percent) of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Two Memphis-connected transportation companies, Ford and Southern Airways Express, hope to help flatten this figure, betting on an electric future.

Ford picked West Tennessee last year to build its electric F-series trucks. South Korea-based SK Innovation will build a battery factory for the trucks there, too. When Ford unveiled its electric F-150 Lightning in May, it called it “the truck of the future.” Marketers used legacy language to rev up customers — like “iconic” and “passion” and “exhilaration” — but also added “clean.”

“For both Ford and the American auto industry, F-150 Lightning represents a defining moment as we progress toward a zero-emissions, digitally connected future,” said Bill Ford, Ford’s executive chairman, in May.

Demand for the new, clean truck is evident. The company closed reservations for the Lightning last month, with nearly 200,000 pre-ordered. So, consumers likely won’t find one on a lot for a year or more.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said electric vehicles (EVs) now comprise .7 percent of all of the 1.3 billion light-duty vehicles on the road now. That increases to 31 percent (672 million) of the 2.2 billion cars on the road by 2050. EIA’s projections show a tipping point: Sales of gas-and-diesel-powered cars will peak in 2038.

Southern Airways is also betting on an electric future, in the skies. The commuter airline company began in Olive Branch, Mississippi, in 2013 and has now relocated to Palm Beach, Florida. Last month, it announced a $250-million order of new planes, including 20 seagliders, from the Regional Electric Ground Effect Nautical Transport (REGENT) aerospace company.

The seaglider is an all-electric, zero-emission flying vessel, the company says. It docks in city harbors, where passengers are loaded. It floats on a hull and then a hydrofoil until it reaches open water. Then, it takes flight, cruising at 180 miles per hour, staying within 100 feet of the water’s surface. Stan Little, chairman and CEO of Southern Airways, called the seaglider a “groundbreaking innovation.”

“REGENT’s zero-emission electric vehicle unlocks an incredible amount of operating efficiency for our company while lowering costs, trip times, and our environmental footprint,” Little said.

Southern Airways’ seaglider service will begin in Boston, Nantucket, Palm Beach, and Miami.

Futurist is an occasional series focused on what comes next.

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Opinion The Last Word

Truckers Can Drive Climate Action

E-trucks can haul heavier cargo over longer distances while contributing to carbon reduction. (Photo: Scharfsinn86 | Dreamstime.com )

If the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow taught us anything, it’s that the climate crisis is already upon us and that it will take a worldwide effort to realize climate stabilization. The Glasgow Climate Pact, agreed upon at the conference, firmed up the global commitment to accelerate action on climate this decade. One-hundred-and-forty-six countries signed the pact, and we heard dramatic proclamations from the biggest polluters, including the United States, India, and even (in absentia) China.

But the true takeaway from COP26 can be summed up by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who said, “[The pact] is an important step, but it is not enough.” Indeed, governments can set the targets and incentives, but private technology, investment, and ingenuity are the indispensable parts of the climate solution.

Take the unmitigated threat from freight. According to MIT, the trucks, planes, ships, and trains that carry billions of tons of cargo around the world each year make up 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and as much as 11 percent of warehouses and ports are included. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, within the transportation sector, freight movement accounts for 27 percent of transportation GHG emissions, with the majority of emissions generated by trucking. Energy use and GHG emissions from freight transportation have grown at roughly twice the rate of passenger transportation emissions over the last 15 years. That is an extraordinary impact.

The good news is we already have the technology and the capability to reverse this trend.

Nations all over the world are witnessing the surge in electric vehicles. In fact, every major car company in the world — from Toyota to Rolls-Royce to GM to Tesla — is producing an EV next year. You will recall President Joe Biden was in an electric Hummer in Detroit only a few weeks ago to highlight his $1 trillion infrastructure plan — which includes billions in funding for a new network of electric charging stations, a true confirmation of the transition to EV. But freight trucks have somehow been lost in the electrification spotlight, despite the role of freight in contributing to GHG and the fact that around the holidays, when we see freight trucks more than ever, we can appreciate the demands we make upon drivers and the centrality of their vehicles to the supply chain. So why haven’t e-trucks taken off yet?

A global study by Deloitte confirmed that ­— despite the advancements in battery technology — one of the biggest concerns about EVs relates to driving range. This is also relevant to freight trucks. The real value in electrifying freight is in delivering zero emissions at a lower total cost of ownership while ensuring vehicle range and reliability. Some e-trucks, like Tevva’s, combine battery power with other renewable energy sources, in this case hydrogen through a small onboard fuel cell, to deliver a viable longer-range solution. By combining technologies, these e-trucks can haul heavier cargo over longer distances — and give freight operators full confidence to adopt and deploy new technologies across all duty cycles.

Freight fleet operators can contribute further to carbon reduction, particularly in cities, by adopting better routes and optimizing their energy consumption. Technology has a role to play here. By using software, e-trucks can have predictive range and routing capabilities that can reduce daily energy consumption and minimize their impact on the planet — while also lowering energy costs for fleet operators. Industry gains can also be made through carbon reduction initiatives such as delivery consolidation hubs and optimizing vehicle load to prevent lots of small commercial vehicles doing the job of a single larger vehicle. This type of logistical restructuring is long overdue. But with truck technologies now available to make immediate strides in our fight toward zero-emission freight, we can empower truckers to drive climate action.

Brian F. Keane is the president of SmartPower. Asher Bennett is the CEO of Tevva Motors.

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News News Blog

Officials Near Release of City’s First Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

CREDIT: Ward Archer

Ward Archer

Flooding of Mississippi River in 2011.

Memphis is close to having its first action plan specifically aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

John Zeenah, director of the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Planning and Development, previewed the Memphis Area Climate Action Plan to the Memphis City Council this week.

Zeenah said the staff in the Office of Resilience and Sustainability has been working with the public for about a year to produce it.

One of the climate risks that Memphis faces, Zeenah said, is river flooding and flash flooding, which together caused about $3.2 billion in property damage between 2007 and 2017.

Another climate risk here is the heat, Zeenah said: “Memphis is getting hotter. I’m not sure I have to convince you of that if you’ve been here the last couple of weeks.”

By 2046, the number of days in which the temperature rises above 95 degrees is expected to be several times greater than that number now, rising from less than 20 to more than 70 days, Zeenah said, citing a study by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

Under the climate action plan, officials will develop ways to measure, track, and curb GHG over time, using 2016 data as a baseline. The plan specifically focuses on three areas: transportation, energy, and waste. Zeenah said these are the main sources of emissions in the Memphis area.

In 2016, the Memphis area produced about 17,192,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, with 12 percent coming from waste, 42 percent from transportation, and 46 percent from energy.

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The goal is to reduce emission amounts by 15 percent in 2020, 51 percent by 2035, and 71 percent by 2050, according to the plan.

According to Zeenah, these targets are “certainly ambitious, but they’re achievable by thinking about how we begin to take action today that can help set us on the path to success in the long run.”

To reduce the amount of energy used to power, heat, and cool structures, the plan suggests improving the energy efficiency of buildings and infrastructure by incentivizing green building designs, improving energy efficiency in low-income housing, and retrofitting street lights to LED. It also recommends a switch to renewable energy sources.

Eliminating a reliance on automobiles and shifting to low-carbon modes of transportation is also a big piece of the plan. That includes creating streets that are conducive to walking and biking, enhancing public transportation, and implementing land use patterns that support public transit, as well as encouraging the use of electric vehicles.

In the area of waste, the plan recommends reducing the amount of waste generated in order to move toward a zero-waste future, as well as improving technology used in wastewater treatment plants and landfills.

The final plan will be completed and released next month, Zeenah said. See a draft of the plan here. 

Doug McGowen, chief operating officer for the city, said the plan is a “big step for the city.”

Other cities like Austin, Texas; Orlando, Florida; and Washington, D.C., have adopted similar climate action plans.