Green Party's McKinney in Tennessee this week

A press release from Chris Lugo says that Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney will be in Tennessee this week with stops in Memphis, Jackson, Dickson, and Nashville on Wednesday and Thursday. Stops in Nashville include Tennessee State University, Fisk University, and Carver Food Park.

As the Green Party candidate, issues of environmental and racial justice will
highlight her Tennessee visit. “Cynthia has chosen to visit people and places

that the Democrats and Republicans would would rather forget, such as

the victims of environmental racism in Dickson, Tennessee. I think this is why

Cynthia is the best choice this election season, because it is clear that she is

the people's candidate," said Chris Lugo Green candidate for the US Senate.

Profile of Dee Butler: Environmental Protest Candidate

The Tennessee Tribune includes an extensive profile of Dee Butler, Democratic candidate for State Senate District 16.

I believe in a greener tomorrow. I support the early education of our
students and community in the need to rethink the way we interact with
our environment, including increased community awareness of
the need to reduce, recycle, and reuse resources in our homes and
workplaces.

She says her candidacy was prompted by the discovery of a high levels of toxic materials in the soil and water causing a public health threat. She found a lack of concern from Senator Jim Tracy, whom she hopes to face in November.

The piece goes on to cite the wide gap that traditionally separates environmental activism and racial minorities and the propensity of poor and minority communities to be victims of polluters.
Dee Butler faces Jean Anne Rogers of Murfreesboro in the Democratic primary.

Rocky Top, you'll always be...

Dawn Coppock is pretty disgusted with BusinessTN's May edition in which the publication rates the best and worst lawmakers for business. I wasn't too pleased with the article in question myself.

In the July edition, which is not online yet, she comes to the defense of Sen. Raymond Finney. She argues that the magazine not only misinterpreted the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, but they ignored the tourism industry so vital to Sevier and surrounding counties.

"No one will come here to see a topless Rocky Top or mountains that look like highway medians. There are plenty of mountains to our north decapitated by coal mining. That is one reason we don have to compete with Kentucky and West Virginia for tourists."

Kurita's green thumb

Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Rosalind Kurita (D-Clarksville) received high marks on this year's Tennessee Conservation Voters scorecard. My first question was, "What about her opponent in the primary, Tim Barnes?" But it's a scorecard that assesses the records of legislators; it's not a complete voter guide.

This year’s top-ranked members of the Senate are Senators Raymond Finney R-8 (Blount and Sevier counties), Bill Ketron R-13 (Lincoln, Marshall, Maury and part of Rutherford counties), Rosalind Kurita D-22 (Cheatham, Houston and Montgomery counties), Doug Jackson D-25 (Dickson, Giles, Hickman, Humphreys, Lawrence and Lewis counties) and Steve Roller D-14 (Franklin, Bledsoe, Coffee, Grundy, Sequatchie, Van Buren and Warren counties). The top-ranked Representatives are Mike McDonald D-44 (Sumner county) and Mike Kernell D-93 (part of Shelby county), Gary Moore D-50 (part of Davidson county) and John Mark Windle D-41 (Fentress, Morgan and Overton counties).

There's a mixture of Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, but all we have are Democrats at the top in the House. Maybe the Senate is the Senate, after all, as former Lt. Gov. John Wilder would have it.

Cousteau fils says Tennesseans are polluting the Gulf of Mexico

Jean-Michel Cousteau was speaking at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga and took a moment to talk to the Tennessean about our state's impact on the ocean's ecology.

“There is runoff of heavy metals and chemicals and we’re overfishing the ocean,” he added. A U.S. Geological Survey report recently linked Tennessee and eight other states to a “dead zone” — up to a 7,000-square-mile area in the northern Gulf of Mexico around the U.S., where most marine life can’t live because of the lack of what’s called dissolved oxygen in the water.

I nearly missed the green...

Based on a look at the archives section of the Nashville Business Journal, it appears that their parent company launched greenbizjournal.com in January. Here's what they say they do:

"We track the deals, people and innovations that are making the green industry the phenomenon of our age. We aim to help entrepreneurs, growth-company executives and the business community in general understand green trends, identify up-and-coming companies and, ultimately, be more successful."

Additionally, one of their bullet points will appeal to political watchers. They tell us we can "count on" this section to: "Keep an eye on government debates, legislation, regulation, court decisions — anything green-related that affects business."

It should prove to be a good resource and it shows that at least talking about the greening of industry is unavoidable even if the practices can be circumvented.

Natural Areas Week: Who Knew?

The Tennessee Environmental Council notes that this week has been proclaimed Natural Areas Week: http://www.tectn.org/NaturalAreasWeek.pdf. There are activities planned in each of the state's Grand Divisions. It's been a great week to get out, except for a little rain. One wishes that the state had come up with a title a little more exciting than "Natural Areas Week." Rather clinical, don't you think? Or perhaps bureaucratic. One shudders to think of what places would be classified "Unnatural Areas" or maybe "Artificial Zones."

Regardless, support TEC if you can. They're doing great work. Their annual Green Tie Affair is coming up and you find out more here: http://www.tectn.org/greentie_home.htm