A call to action of environmental awakening
Environmentally speaking it’s hard to know what to write about in this column. There’s the election. There’s the tornado destruction in the Nashville and Putnam County areas. There’s the coronovirus threat now here in Tennessee.
There’s extra rain bringing floods to our area plus the sewer consent decree remedies that may or not be working at great taxpayer expense. There’s the steep slope and floodplain filling controls or lack thereof. Urban sprawl is causing the loss of forests and their carbon sequestration abilities.
Destruction of wetlands and rural land leads to loss of birds, insects, and myriad species in water not to mention food on lands that sustain humankind. Sale of big gas combustion vehicles is increasing. We are driving them further for purchase of unneeded items that came cheaper due to child labor abuses and resource degradation. Thus, we increase greenhouse gas emissions. Chattanooga is named as the sixth fastest warming city in the nation.
Then, on the Federal level, there are the cutbacks pending for the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, and National Environmental Protection Act bolstered by the science and climate change deniers in office. TVA is dragging its feet on alternative energy use for electricity production in favor of unsafe nuclear power with no satisfactory waste solutions.
Chattanooga is downwind from all TVA nuclear plants. At least TVA is shutting down its coal-burning plants. Coal mining overall is diminishing, so one wonders why Tennessee is establishing a coal mine permitting office that has been a Federal responsibility.
What’s an environmentalist to do? Weep? Whine? Retire to a cave? Take revenge? Leave the planet?
Before any of that happens, it’s time to reassess and regroup in the face of changing times remembering that nature/Gaia Earth is in charge perhaps to human species detriment. Looking at all the concerns above, they come from our own doing which means there are solutions. Much of our trouble derives from climate change repercussions. Climate scientists have long predicted more catastrophic storms with both drought and flooding from rising temperatures; hence our more frequent tornadoes and flooding destruction with sewer overflows and lost homes from steep slope collapses.
Let’s face it: Overuse of natural resources, overconsumption and overpopulation fuel our situation. It’s coming back to bite us health wise. It appears that many viruses are now transferring from wild animals to humans. Early research indicates the coronavirus may come from endangered pangolins whose meat is considered a delicacy with their scales desirable to treat arthritis. Maybe there’s a carrier bat in the picture too.
David Quammen writes in his new book “Spillover” that farms and pastures are encroaching into wilderness, disrupting ecosystems and supplying meat from disease-carrying wild animals. Land management, population control, food access, and urban sprawl are culprits here.
Locally, South Chickamauga Creek escapes it banks regularly popping its sewer manholes at Brown Acres, East Ridge and other places downstream. During high flood levels we see water pollution with toilet paper and sludge in trees and on soil. Is the sewer consent decree working? Where are the floodplains and wetlands that used to hold floodwater?
Case in point: a new soccer stadium is now being built along I-75 in East Ridge. It has destroyed 14 wetlands on 61 acres, cut hundreds of trees, lost several rare plant species and eliminated habitat for the numerous birds, amphibians and wetland macroinvertebrates that represent the base of the aquatic food chain. The fill dirt has taken away the flood water storage area and threatened the surrounding neighborhoods with flooding as storms become more frequent and intense.
Now a local hospital has bought the naming rights for the stadium. Wonder how much they paid for that? Given diseases due to climate change threats, can they really think they should have their health brand connected to this stadium? Here’s a stadium name suggestion to consider: Fill Dirt Stadium. Or how about Lost Wetland, Neighbor Flood Zone, No Birds Flyway, or Zero Forest? There are more, but they are unfit to print.
It’s more than time to get serious about the risks associated with ignoring climate. Our current ways of living don’t contribute to a supportive planet for us and future generations. Stop digging. In this election year, make some noise and of course vote. Rest assured the environmental community will keep working but it will take all hands—or should we say fist bumps?
Sandra Kurtz is an environmental community activist, chair of the South Chickamauga Creek Greenway Alliance, and is presently working through the Urban Century Institute. You can visit her website to learn more at enviroedu.net