Once again, SOCM is organizing a music festival in Knoxville, called The EarthBeats Festival, as a fundraiser. The 2013 EarthBeats Festival is a TWO DAY (Sept 13th & 14th), community-voice and sound themed event, that's centered around this year's EB FEST theme: "Celebrating the Rhythm of Life & Story".

We have invited a wide array of talented performers and speakers from within the Knoxville Area, the south east, and abroad, to truly help shape this experience to its fullest potential. Spectators can expect to bare witness to some amazingly epic drum circles, dynamic band line-ups the like's to which Knoxville is yet to experience on ONE STAGE, masterful hoop dance/play, insightful workshops, great food, poetry, and storytelling by some of the best our city has to offer!

With so much going on this year, we've organized the show line ups and days into a few live show categories: EB SPEAKS, EB TEACH, EB MAIN STAGE.

Ticket prices go up the day of the event so buy your tickets today!

The EarthBeats Festival Promotional Video

 

This month, there are two opportunities for SOCM members to go on record with their concerns about local resource extraction methods.

informal Conference on Turner Surface Mine

At 6/5 p.m. CT on Thursday, September 12th, the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) will host an informal conference regarding the permit renewal for Crossville Coal's Turner Surface Mine in Cumberland County. The Turner Surface Mine is adjacent to the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area. Currently, Crossville Coal is in talks with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) to lease the mineral rights under Catoosa for underground coal mining. This would be the first time the State of Tennessee would lease mineral rights for resource extraction on protected public land that is designated for conservation and recreation. SOCM members will be using the public comment session at this informal conference to talk about the potential permit application for mining under the Catoosa, weaknesses of mining regulations, public land being used for resource extraction, and the economic and social impacts of mining. If you are interested in attending the conference and would like some help preparing comments, please contact Parker Laubach at parker@socm.org or 865-249-7488 for more information or talking points.

During the listening session of the August 22nd TVA Board meeting, solar small business employees and owners, SOCM members, and friends spoke on the problem with TVA's new yearly cap on solar applications. Solar companies are now required to complete all their business within a small window of time each year. When TVA opened up a window for new solar interconnection applications on Aug 1st, the 2.5 MW cap was gone in 60 seconds (really!). Companies who were not accepted this round (most of them) will have to wait months and then try again. The demand for solar is higher than it has ever been and solar companies can't make these sales when there's no way to interconnect with our utility grid. We asked the Board to consider the true value of solar, explained how this is constraining business, and compared TVA to neighboring utilities who have stronger solar targets. Mary Mastin, Tennessee Environmental Council board member and Sierra Club and SOCM member, presented board members with a letter detailing our ask and signed by many organizations including SOCM. During this same meeting, the Board approved $3.3 billion to be spent on the Gallatin coal plant and Watts Bar 2 nuclear plant. We think this money can be better invested in cleaner, renewable energy sources so our Green-Collar Jobs Committee will continue to pressure TVA. Contact Katie Greer, 865-249-7488 or katie@socm.org, to get involved.