Maryville College students promote renewable energy

by Ashley McBee

Where does your electricity come from? When you flip on a light switch, turn on the washing machine or lie in bed listening to the refrigerator run, where does the tangible electric current originate? Who and what is being sacrificed to produce electricity?
As my friends and I learned the answers to these questions, we began to worry that not enough is being done to conserve resources and reduce pollution. In early fall, we called our local utility board and learned that only 92 of more than 15,000 Maryville Utility Board’s residential customers purchase Green Power from TVA. Two of my fellow Maryville College seniors and I decided to help our neighbors understand how to lower electricity bills, reduce pollution, and why they might want to buy Green Power blocks with the savings. Our hope is that providing people with information will help them act responsibly and take a new perspective on our needs as consumers in a modern society.
We received a grant from our college to run a community awareness campaign. Laura DeBusk, Tom Hankinson, and I will give a presentation at the Blount County Public Library at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14. Through our combined efforts and those of Steve McMinn, a TVA representative, attendees will learn about the processes and impacts surrounding conventional sources of electricity, how TVA’s Green Power Switch works, and how they can improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
They will learn that coal is the main source of energy for TVA, and we will explain the impacts of extracting coal and converting it to electrical energy. To put our consumption in perspective, we will consider what must conspire for one household to meet its energy demands for one year.
The average house in the Southeast uses 36 killowatt-hours(kWh) of electricity per day. One kilowatt-hour will operate an air conditioner for 30 minutes, 10 light bulbs for an hour or a water heater for 15 minutes. One pound of coal is burned for each kilowatt-hour, so the average home in the Southeast indirectly consumes about 13,000 pounds of coal in a year. In order to meet the needs of their customers, TVA must burn 8 trillion pounds of coal per year.
Our neighbors, children and the ecosystems of our beloved and majestic Appalachian mountains suffer daily from coal production and consumption. Extraction by mountaintop removal uses five million pounds of explosives daily in the Cumberland Mountains to literally blow the tops off mountains in order to access seams of coal beneath. Stone blasted from where it stood for millions of years is dumped into surrounding streams and valleys. As a result, over 1,500 miles of streams have been buried under rubble. This results in farms, homes, and towns falling victim to a lack of clean water, severe floods and erosion.
Mountaintop removal devastates the culture and health of people who live nearby. From asthma to cancer, particulates in the air and toxins in the water affect man and animal alike. By burning coal, we are condemning 33 million people in the Southeast to live in areas whose air quality has been deemed bad. Children are developing asthma and other lung disorders at increasing rates. While coal burning negatively impacts everyone’s lungs, its effects are more profound in children because their lungs are still developing. Studies have shown children who grow up breathing bad air average 10 percent less lung capacity. Coal combustion exposes us to mercury and other toxins that find their way into our food, water and air. Environmental effects of burning coal range from accelerating climate change to reducing visibility in Great Smoky Mountain National Park 60 percent in the last 60 years.
Contributing to the solution rather than the problem is actually pretty simple. You can demand that TVA use more renewable power and less conventional power by participating in the Green Power Switch, a program that funds development of wind, solar and methane power. Their progress shows they are willing to make a shift in production, but it requires a shift in consumer consciousness. When we create the demand, they will generate more electricity from green sources.
You can also reduce the amount of electricity TVA generates by reducing your own consumption. Efficient light bulbs and appliances pay for themselves quickly, and there are several simple, low-cost tips that can be implemented to save additional energy. When combined, these efficiency techniques can add up to quite a bit of displaced coal combustion and save you money on your electricity bill, which you can then invest in Green Power.
With a little awareness and some research, you can reduce electricity consumption and still have your needs met. My needs are a healthy and promising future for my children, a humbling view from a mountaintop, and a life that does not jeopardize anything or anyone around me. These are my demands. What are yours?

McBee is a senior at Maryville College majoring in psychology.