PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. -- Scientists blame global warming for the drought conditions that caused the Smoky Mountain wildfires to spread in November, and now several groups are concerned that President Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency could reverse policies that have brought about progress in mitigating the effects of climate change.

Stephanie Kodish, senior director and counsel with the National Parks Conservation Association, explained why the nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is so concerning to her organization.

"Right here at home in Tennessee, we just experienced the horrible effects of climate change in our community and to the park,” Kodish said. "We can't have someone at the helm of the EPA that is still questioning what we've just experienced."

During his tenure as Oklahoma's attorney general, Pruitt relaxed restrictions for companies on air pollution and sued the EPA several times - including once to fight against the EPA's "good neighbor rule" that reduced the hazardous soot and smog pollution crossing state lines.

This week the National Wildlife Federation spoke out in opposition to Pruitt. It's the first time in its 80 year history that the bipartisan group has taken such a stance.

Colin O’Mara, president and CEO of the Federation, explained why the nonprofit is taking a stand.

"For the first time, we are opposing a nominee for the Environmental Protection Agency - or for any agency, for that matter,” O’Mara said, "because the nominee is not supporting sound science and not believing in the mission of the organization and having a history of doing nothing but suing and fighting against clean air and clean water."

Late Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker, a Republican, is credited with passing the landmark Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act. But environmentalists say Pruitt's policies now threaten the progress made over the last 47 years.

Kodish said the views of the Smokies are an indicator of how far we've come.

"The Smokies provide such a wonderful looking glass to see the successes of great laws like the Clean Air Act,” she said. "You take a look at the views of the Smokies in the 1990s, they were limited to nine miles. Now because of a suite of emission reductions, you can see 35 miles out."

Tennessee's water quality also could be at risk. Water supports a wildlife recreation industry valued at almost $3 billion annually, as well as the state's growing craft-beer industry, which contributes almost $500 million to the economy.


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A new film documents the 2018 battle between Colorado environmentalists and the oil and gas industry over proposed fracking regulations.

The film also documents a grassroots effort by Colorado Rising to pass a ballot initiative which would create a 2,500-foot setback for all hydraulic fracturing wells in the state, particularly in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Sarah Schulte, organizing committee member of GreenFaith Boulder County, which recently previewed the film for about 100 members, said the film has a strong message.

"What probably makes the film pretty dramatic and kind of shocking is the length to which oil and natural gas industries in Colorado set out to thwart them," Schulte pointed out. "Not only with some of the tactics you might expect, but also some kind of more nefarious tactics sabotaging their signature gathering, for example."

In the end, the petroleum industry defeated the measure after a $50 million campaign opposing it. Schulte acknowledged Colorado Rising raised only $1 million for its campaign. After the election, the state adopted a 1,000-foot drilling setback from schools and residential property lines.

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, involves drillers injecting a mixture of chemicals underground to break up the shale and free the oil. The chemicals used in the process, which are sometimes toxic, can pollute groundwater and make the surrounding land unstable.

Schulte emphasized the movie had a powerful effect on the group's members.

"I think most people were pretty angry and maybe even a little sad after seeing how these kinds of politics play out in Colorado," Schulte observed. "They asked questions like what can we do next? How do you keep going when it's so difficult to fight such a big and powerful industry?"

The film, Fracking the System: Colorado's Oil and Gas Wars, is currently being previewed by select audiences. It has won the "Spirit of Activism" award at the Colorado Environmental Film Festival
and the "Environmental Award" at the 2024 DOCUTAH International Film Festival.

As part of an effort to restore the Mississippi River delta, an organization is collaborating with nature to address environmental challenges.

The Big Muddy is the second-longest river in North America, flowing more than 2,300 miles.

Simone Maloz, campaign director for the group Restore the Mississippi River Delta, said the coalition uses nature-based solutions to help tackle some of the river's environmental problems in Louisiana and Mississippi.

"We use the power and the sediment the river provides to help us to put solutions into place," Maloz explained. "For example, we might have an area of wetlands that needs to be nourished with freshwater sediment, we can tap into that wonderful resource that we have."

Maloz pointed out some farmers are turning to nature-based solution, using cover crops like clover or other plants to protect the soil. Cover crops typically grow in between primary crops, or are planted in the offseason to help keep nutrients on the ground so they do not become toxic in the water as runoff.

Maloz emphasized nature-based solutions are key to building resilient communities, which she said are those communities thinking about how to plan for climate change, such as floods, droughts, and rising sea levels, wildfires, hurricanes and coastal threats.

"What we know about resilient communities, whether you're on the coast, or whether you're not on the coast, is about how you can brace yourself for these impacts and how you can more quickly recover," Maloz stressed. "We know that when you include nature in those plans, it helps you to better do that."

Maloz added her group is involved in various projects along the Mississippi River, using sediment to replenish marshes, rebuild ridges and barrier islands and create habitats for migratory birds.


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The Iowa Environmental Council has petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to invoke emergency powers to protect sensitive soil and groundwater in northeast Iowa.

The council is holding a public webinar today and wants the EPA to address groundwater contamination in northeast Iowa's so-called Driftless region. The groundwater there has a well-documented history of nitrate contamination.

Alicia Vasto, director of water program for the council, said the highly porous and soluble karst soil prevalent in the region is susceptible to contamination from centralized animal feeding operations.

"We did some analyses of private well data and public water systems and found that there was a lot of contamination of nitrate in those drinking water sources," Vasto reported. "The state has really failed to take action meaningfully that would address those problems."

The state has said it is constantly working to upgrade groundwater quality standards and is in the process of taking public input on creating yet another set of rules.

Vasto emphasized since the state has failed to address the water safety concerns for decades, the council and a coalition of other environmental groups have, in effect, gone above the state's head to the EPA, asking the agency to implement an emergency stop gap on nitrate pollution the way the agency did in neighboring Minnesota last year.

"We're asking that at, at minimum, the EPA would require the state of Iowa to do what they required the state of Minnesota to do under the same petition," Vasto explained. "Because the geology of northeast Iowa is the same as of southeast Minnesota."

The council's recommendations include calling on the EPA to create a communications plan with residents whose water could be at risk, create a drinking water sampling plan, and establishing a thorough permitting process for centralized animal feeding operations.


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