Climate Fast Facts: Tennessee

Climate & Energy Resources

• Latest Climate Science (Union of Concerned Scientists)
• Global Warming & Tennessee (National Wildlife Federation)
• Cost of Delay (Environmental Defense Fund)
• Meeting the International Clean Energy and Climate Change Challenges (The White House)

Jobs

Clean energy economy will bring plenty of paying jobs to the Volunteer State. The state could gain 39,000 jobs and  $3 billion in investment revenue if $150 billion was invested in clean energy nationwide, and drop unemployment by 1.3 percent.

• Clean-Energy Investments Create Jobs in Tennessee (Center for American Progress/PERI)
• Tennessee: Green Prosperity and Poverty Reduction (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• Tennessee’ Road to Energy Independence (Blue Green Alliance)
• Clean Energy Jobs in Tennessee (Environmental Defense Fund)
• Clean Energy and Climate Policies Lead to Economic Growth in Tennessee (Environmental Entrepreneurs)

Opportunity

Tennessee will be a part of the heartland of the national clean energy economy. Committing 50,000 MW of new wind energy in the United States would bring 4,233 jobs and over $1.4 billion in investments to the state. Under the ACES bill Missouri would receive $698 million for expanded energy efficiency investments, $208 million for natural gas efficiency investments.

• ACES Funding for Efficiency Investments- TN (Environment Northeast)
• Southeast Energy Opportunities: Renewable Energy Opportunities in Tennessee (World Resources Institute, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)
• Charting a New Path for Tennessee’ Electricity Generation and Use (National Wildlife Federation)
• The Clean Energy Economy: Tennessee (Pew Center)

• Energy Efficiency Program Impacts and Policies in the Southeast (Southern Alliance for Clean Energy)
• The 2009 Report on the Future of The South (Southern Growth Policy Board)
• Renewable Energy Works: Tennessee
  

Cut Costs

The average family in Tennessee would save $4.12 per month on their energy bills and a sizeable $15.45 per month on vehicle fuel costs if the American Clean Energy and Security Act was enacted.

• Climate Bill Cuts Electricity Bills (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• Climate-Protection Policies Cut Fuel Bills (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• Summary of Competitiveness Provisions in ACES (Center for Clean Air Policy)
• Carbon Cap Critics Predict Healthy Economy in Tennessee under Cap-and-Trade (PERI/UMASS)
• Clean Energy, Green Jobs: A National Renewable Electricity Standard Will Boost the Economy and Protect the Environment (Union of Concerned Scientists)

Climate Consequences

If the climate crisis is not addressed, significant health, trade, agricultural and water issues will affect Tennessee. An EPA study reveals urban heat island effect, heat waves, droughts, sea-level rise, and tropical storms will likely plague the state.

• Human Health Impacts of Global Warming on Tennessee (Pew Center)
• Global Climate Change Impacts on the U.S.: Southeast Assessment (Union of Concerned Scientists)
• Hotter Fields, Lower Yields: Global Warming's Impact on Agriculture (Environment America)

• Climate Change in the United States: The Prohibitive Costs of Inaction (Union of Concerned Scientists)

• Exposed: Social Vulnerability and Climate Change in the U.S. Southeast (Oxfam America)

State Actions

While Congress debates climate and energy legislation on the Hill, Tennessee has mobilized some climate action measures of its own including this release of climate change impacts to wildlife, though by-and-large lags behind many states in climate proactivity.

• Repower Tennessee (Alliance for Climate Protection)
• State Action on Global Warming (Pew Center on Climate Change) (see maps on state actions)

Regulating Carbon Markets

• Five Reasons Why Trading Allowances Will Help Meet Our Climate Objectives (Natural Resources Defense Council)
• The Senate’s Role in Getting Carbon Market Regulation Right (Natural Resources Defense Council)

News & Opinion

• Manufactured Outrage (Nashville Scene)