This story was originally published by The Conversation.  Michael Wysession is Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

Between the record-breaking global heat and extreme downpours, it’s hard to ignore that something unusual is going on with the weather in 2023.

People have been quick to blame climate change – and they’re right: human-caused global warming plays the biggest role. The weekslong heat wave that started in June 2023 in Texas, the U.S. Southwest and Mexico would have been virtually impossible without it, one study found.

However, the extremes this year are sharper than anthropogenic global warming alone would be expected to cause. September temperatures were far above any previous September, and around 3.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.75 degrees Celsius) above the preindustrial average, according to the European Union’s earth observation program.

July was Earth’s hottest month on record, also by a large margin, with average global temperatures more than half a degree Fahrenheit (a third of a degree Celsius) above the previous record, set just a few years earlier in 2019.

ONEIDA — Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area (NRRA) received $1 million for the orphaned well reclamation project, funded through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This project is part of a nationwide effort to restore natural habitats and address climate change impacts.

In fiscal year 2023, President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act will provide $52 million to the National Park Service to fund projects throughout the country related to ecosystem resilience, restoration, and environmental planning needs.  

The Big South Fork project will plug and reclaim six orphaned well sites throughout the park in Tennessee and Kentucky. The project, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, will mitigate abandoned mine drainage and close open mine portals at Big South Fork NRRA.

Methane pollution from many of these unplugged wells is a serious safety hazard and is a significant driver of climate change, with methane being more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

“Plugging the wells removes abandoned aboveground oil or gas production equipment, improves visitor safety and protects park groundwater and other park resources,” said Big South Fork NRRA Superintendent Niki Stephanie Nicholas in a press release.

“The restoration of these sites through these investments will stabilize access roads and production sites and promote ecosystem health by planting native plant species.”

— National Park Service

The Earth’s sun is seen in this NASA image. Scientists said July might be the hottest month in 100,000 years.  

The global heat wave of July 2023 has spared Southern Appalachia. So far.

KNOXVILLE — July 2023 has so far offered a scary look at global climate change around the world, and the month is already one for the record books.

This month will likely end up being the hottest July on record, globally speaking. That comes after quantitative conclusions from multiple scientists that the past week was, globally, the warmest in 100,000 years.

The Southern Appalachians have generally been spared from the heat settling on vast portions of the country and world, but that will soon change. The National Weather Service predicts higher than average temperatures flirting with 100 degrees in the Tennessee Valley next week. Record-breaking temperatures are possible. The average high temperature for July in Knoxville is 87 degrees.

Warnings posted in Dickson County near Tennessee Gas Pipeline property. John Partipilo/Courtesy Tennessee Lookout

Environmental groups sue Tennessee Valley Authority over proposed new power plant

This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.

NASHVILLE — A trio of environmental groups filed suit against the Tennessee Valley Authority, claiming the utility violated federal law by failing to properly evaluate climate, environmental and financial impacts of a proposed new gas-fired plant in Cumberland City, Tennessee.

The lawsuit, filed in a Nashville federal court this month, also claims that TVA quietly inked a deal with an international pipeline company to supply the gas-fired plant, even as it publicly went through the motions of seeking input on alternative sources of power to replace the Cumberland Fossil Plant, its aging coal-fire facility located about 60 miles northwest of Nashville.

The groups are seeking an immediate halt to construction on the gas plant and an order forcing the utility to revise the existing environmental impact study used as the basis for moving forward with the gas-fired plant.

“Our country’s largest utility has gamed the system to fast-track dirty energy projects and that’s why we’re going to court to stop it,” Gaby Sarri-Tobar, a campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “TVA needs to be held accountable for its reckless pursuit of a new fossil gas plant in the midst of the climate emergency.”

Citizens call on TVA to stop passing gas

KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee Valley Authority in coming years plans to add both natural gas and solar plants to its portfolio to meet what it says are rising energy demands.

TVA’s Board of Directors laid out the federal utility’s plan in a meeting at Norris Middle School in May. Environmentalists at a previous hearing criticized the utility’s focus on natural gas rather than renewables or other measures. Other people, largely tied to local power providers, argued that a switch to renewable energy would be unreliable.

TVA showed a map in a press release following the meeting, showing four proposed natural gas plants and two proposed solar plants. Two of those natural gas plants would be in Tennessee while the other two are planned for Alabama and Kentucky. It stated these new plants will total 3,800 megawatts. It also spoke of its System Operations Center, set to open in fall 2024 in Georgetown to manage the utility’s grid. TVA also stated a desire to research nuclear technologies.

“Our region is experiencing growth at six times the national average, which means we must invest in our current power system and build new generation so we can continue meeting our region’s demand,” said TVA president and CEO Jeff Lyash.

Several citizens criticized TVA’s focus on natural gas plants and new pipelines at the listening session May 9. Among them was Clinton resident and activist John Todd Waterman.