Trump Sells Out Tennessee's Waters, Public Health to Costly Coal

NASHVILLE, TENN. -Today, the Trump administration announced its "Coal Day 2.0" agenda, which includes opening 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal mining leasesand extending compliance deadlines and rolling backsafeguards against air and water pollution.

In the last two decades, coal mining in the U.S. has steadily declineddue to innovations of renewable energy sources, and public opposition to coal due to the myriad of negative impacts coal production has on public health and the environment.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration delayed complianceof health protections for coal miners, and cut free black lung screenings for miners. The Trump administration has also begun rolling back a numberof safeguardsthat limit toxic pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Following years of advocacy from the Sierra Club, the Tennessee Valley Authority has retired or announced plans to retire 10 coal-fired power plants, but TVA is continuing to invest ratepayer money in keeping other dirty coal plants online for years into the future.

This year, Donald Trump fired three members of TVA's Board of Directors, leaving the Board without enough members to make critical decisions for the federal utility's 10 million customers, including passing an Integrated Resource Plan, progressing with transmission planning, and passing a data center rate structure. And there is growing public concern that Trump is working to replace TVA's CEO with pro-privatization leadership.

In response, the Sierra Club issued the following statements:

"Tennessee has seen the horrific effects of propping up the coal industry in the ongoing devastating effects of the Kingston Coal Ash Spill. But we have also led the charge in ending the era of coal energy. TVA must continue this work to protect our communities' health and our wallets by retiring the coal plants within our state and standing up to this administration, which clearly does not care about the well-being and safety of the people who live in the Tennessee Valley," said Bonnie Swinford, Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign Organizing Strategist.

"The Trump administration's reckless actions announced today will hurt the American people, all to prop up the aging and outdated coal industry," said Sierra Club Chief Program Officer Holly Bender. "Coal power is now not only the dirtiest form of electricity, it is one of the most expensive, contributing to the rising cost of Americans' energy bills.

"Donald Trump's plan doesn't just saddle us with higher bills, he wants to lease millions of acres of public lands to mining companies and further slash protections for our clean air and water. Rather than investing in clean, affordable energy to power our country, more coal will increase deadly air pollution, poison our water with harmful heavy metals, and drastically worsen the health of our loved ones.

"If this dangerous agenda continues to advance, years from now we will look around at failing health outcomes, skyrocketing bills, and a decaying environment, and there will be one man to blame: Donald Trump and his Republican enablers. But we will not stand by as this administration takes a wrecking ball to the progress we have made, and we will continue to defend our health, our environment, and our futures," Bender concluded.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.