Press Mention Inside Climate News May 14, 2026
SACE Quoted
The Tennessee Valley Authority Produced a Booklet Downplaying Coal Ash Risks. Top Researchers Call It Dishonest.
In this mention
The Tennessee Valley Authority distributed a 35-page booklet titled "Know the Facts: Coal Ash" at a public meeting that researchers and environmental advocates say contains misleading information downplaying coal ash health risks. Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, criticized TVA for promoting coal industry propaganda, particularly given TVA's history of the 2008 Kingston coal ash disaster that killed cleanup workers. The article details how the booklet omits dangerous contaminants and uses deceptive comparisons to minimize coal ash hazards, contradicting EPA findings and peer-reviewed research.
This is not unusual for TVA to basically have their staff pushing out coal industry propaganda downplaying and misleading the public about the dangers of coal ash. And the sad irony of it is that TVA had the largest coal ash disaster of any utility in the country, and workers who were involved in the TVA cleanup actually died.
Stephen A. Smith
Original clipping
PDF didn't open? Open it in a new tab →