Press Mention The Review Appeal (Franklin, Tenn.) August 21, 2001
SACE Quoted
Former Franklin man testifies in Washington
In this mention
Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, testified before EPA administrators in Washington, D.C., urging enforcement of Clean Air Act provisions to limit sulfur emissions from TVA coal-fired power plants. Smith argued that reducing emissions would decrease regional haze affecting the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the most visited national park in the United States, and protect a significant economic engine for Tennessee tourism.
It's especially bad in East Tennessee in the Great Smokies, which is the most visited national park in the United States
Stephen A. Smith
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Full transcript
Former Franklin man testifies in Washington
♦ His mother
runs a gourmet
shop here
By CLINT CONFEHR
Senior Staff Reporter of The Review
Appeal (Franklin, Tenn.)
Twenty Tennesseans, including a former Battle Ground Academy student, testified at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday requesting enforcement of Clean Air Act provisions.
Stephen Smith, 37, now a veterinarian in Knoxville, is executive director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. His mother, Dorothy Smith, owns The Pepper Patch, 1250 Old Hillsboro Road, which sells jellies, cakes and other gourmet food.
Stephen Smith was among 100 people who went to Environmental Protection Agency headquarters to speak with a group of EPA administrators engaged in rule making on clean air standards.
A provision of the Clean Air Act should cause the Tennessee Valley Authority to limit emissions of sulfur from coal-fired power plants, Smith said.
Enforcement of the rule will reduce "regional haze," he said, explaining it's not only noticeable from mountaintops in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, but also across Tennessee, albeit to a lesser extent.
"It's especially bad in East Tennessee in the Great Smokies, which is the most visited national park in the United States," Smith said.
More than 10 million people visit that park annually, he said.
"So, there's also a significant economic engine for tourism throughout the state as people travel to the park, which is a magnet for tourist dollars," Smith said.
No answer was expected yesterday from the EPA rule makers, he said, "But it's going to be up to the Bush Administration and the EPA to protect the crown jewels of the park system.
"And we need leadership from our elected leaders," Smith said.
U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) has asked President Bush to protect the park, Smith said. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Murfreesboro) "have not been as strong supporters and we need to see leadership from them."
Sulfur in coal-fired electric power plants is a significant contributor to the air pollution problem of haze, said Smith, who lived in Franklin in the mid-1970s.