Tennessee Taking Federal Taxpayer Funds To Promote Leftist Environmental Agenda

In Recent Months Tennessee Has Been Expressing A Desire To Reject Federal Funding For Education, And Yet At The Same Time, The State Has Decided To Accept Money, And Engage In A Project That Appears To Promote And Assist In Furthering The Radical Leftist Environmental Agenda Of The Biden Administration.

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The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –

Based on information obtained through the state website, Tennessee is currently operating a program called the Tennessee Volunteer Emission Reduction Strategy.   

The state of Tennessee has accepted a $3,000,000.00 grant from the federal government’s Environmental Protection Agency, who are funding the program through the Climate Pollution Reduction Program that was created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Cities in Tennessee who will be the focus of the project include the areas in and around Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville. The focus includes several of the surrounding counties in each area, and not just the cities themselves.

The program, based on information in a a press release, was launched with the intent to support “”Bidenomics,” address the climate crisis, bold climate action, and environmental justice.” 

The press release states: “EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program recognizes that to tackle the climate crisis and advance environmental justice, communities need to be in the driver’s seat steering toward their own clean energy future,” said John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation. “It’s why these state, local, and Tribal grants are such an important part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.”

According to publicly available sources, the Tennessee Volunteer Emission Reduction Strategy is being done in conjunction with Black Millennials for Flint and The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE).

SACE or The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, states on its webpage that they “work to address environmental, racial, social, and economic injustices through advocacy for equitable policies, practices, and programs that tackle our region’s harmful reliance on fossil fuels and help avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis”, and, that they “are committed to confronting environmental and energy injustice, we are also committed to recognizing and addressing the ways societal inequity is reflected within our organization and in turn cultivating equity and justice internally.”

Additionally, SACE, a leftist environmental group, recently contributed $5,000 to City of Knoxville candidate Amelia Parker through their Tennesseans for Clean Energy PAC.

Parker, subscribes to very similar radical ideologies, and has publicly espoused an intention to implement them if elected. SACE has also sent out mailers supporting Democrat supported, leftist candidates in Knoxville’s city elections. 

Black Millennials for Flint, according to their website, “envisions a nation where community leaders unite to seek environmental justice for lead-free African American and Latino communities”. 

If that sounds odd to those who live in Tennessee and not in Michigan where Flint and the water crisis originated, the group also has an office located in Memphis. 

These facts beg the question, “Why is a red state like Tennessee using taxpayer funding to engage with political organizations that support leftist agendas?“

In recent months Tennessee has been expressing a desire to reject federal funding for education, and yet at the same time, the state has decided to accept money, and engage in a project that appears to promote and assist in furthering the radical leftist environmental agenda of the Biden Administration. 

Critics of the program are insisting that Tennessee should immediately cease the TN Volunteer Emission Reduction Strategy  program, and return all related federal funding from whence it came. 

We will follow this story and report on any future developments. 

About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member.  Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.