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First Half of 2007 -- January through June
- June 28 - In response to the Governor's declaration, many East Tennessee alternative fuels station owners drop their B20 and E85 pricing; those participating included
— Benton Oil at their Midnite Oil B20 station in Chattanooga
— Regal Fuels at their B20 station near downtown Knoxville
» Pilot Oil at their E85 station in West Knoxville (dropped to $1.85!)
- June 28 - Governor Bredesen declares this day the first annual "Biofuels Day in Tennessee"; as part of the day of events, www.BioTENN.org Web site launches
- June 18 - The Town of Jonesborough (the oldest town in Tennessee) releases that they have completed a move to B20 in their fleet (see press releases page)
- June 15 - With the ETCFC's help, Food City announces that E10 is now available at 27 East Tennessee "Gas-n-Go's"; see the list of stations here
- June 6 - Pilot Food Marts open first E85 station in all of East Tennessee!
- May 29 - Calloway Oil Opens two new B20 pumps, one in Maryville (Blount County) and one in Vonore (Monroe County)
- May 25 - Nu-Energie, LLC joins ETCFC as a $10,000 Founding Partner
- April 21 - Earth Fest - ETCFC has 10-vehicle display to go with our 20'x20' booth and interacts with many regioinal folks in educating them about alternative fuels and our transportation sector's addiction to oil
- April 14 - The 4th annual Run for Clean Air - a fantastic morning and turnout (300 registrants, are most by far) yield a significant reward in fundraising for the ETCFC (over $10,000!) and cotinues our tradition of building this event into a family-fun time for learning about air quality issues, getting exercise and getting an introduction to alternative fuels
- March 20 - ETCFC holds biodiesel workshop in Morristown; great turnout!
- March 14 - City of Oak Ridge completes move to fleetwide biodiesel as B5
- March 6 - ETCFC participates in the nationwide partnership put on by all of the Clean Cities programs entitled "Energy Independence Days" which brings us together in Washington DC to collectively and separately meet with and communicate our individual and united mesages to our senators and representatives
- March 2 - Chattanooga meeting followed by visit to JAT Oil's main fuel terminal in downtown Chattanooga
- January 26-27 - ETCFC has display at Knoxville's "Healthy Living Expo"
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2006, all of it! --
The whole year was so packed with activities we didn't get a chance to update this page on the Web site all year long! Here's a list of some of what happened in 2006:
All year long - ETCFC makes 53 presentations at 42 events throughout the year
 All year long - UT Biodiesel team moves closer to putting campus-produced biodiesel in campus vehicles
December - TDOT moves its region 2 sites (Chattanooga and Cookeville) to B20
November - Gerdau Ameristeel moves their entire site in Knoxville to B5 including 2 rail switchcars; we subsequently learn that this is the first use of biodiesel in rail in the Southeast!
 November - Y-12 moves fleetwide to B20
November - Waste Management gets approval to return to using B5 in approximately 80 vehicles in Knoxville and Kingsport (they were asked to stop using B5 in February even though other locations are using higher blends)
November - Blalock Companies get B2 started in 10 of their dump trucks
October - Johnson City starts B5 in all 380 of their city vehicles (includes city school buses, mass transit vehicles and the city service fleet)
October - The ETCFC works with Eastman in Kingsport to hold their 2006 National AFV Odyssey Day event
August, September and December - The ETCFC holds biodiesel workshops in (respectively) Tazewell, Cleveland and Crossville
August - Peshing Yoakley & Associates becomes ETCFC's CPA firm
 August - Elise Miller joins the ETCFC as Education & Outreach Coordinator; she is a CAC Americorps member and starts the clean air campaign partnership between the CAC and the ETCFC
July - SEBI (Southeast Biofuels Initiative)--collaborative of six Clean Cities coalitions--wins $560,000 for placing 40 E85 and B20 stations along major cooridors in TN, NC, SC and GA
June - Overly wins a Blount County Environmental Achievement Award for work to clean up the environment
May - Washington and Hawkins Farmers Co-ops move their on-road blends up to B20
May - Coalition gets "Young Biodiesel Leaders" Program kicked off with a presentation to 100 middle schoolers at William Blount Middle School
May - Jonathan Overly of the ETCFC is awarded the Coordinator of the Year award at the national Alternative Fuels Conference & Exhibition
April - A major storm hits East TN the night before the Run for Clean Air but the event goes on and we have a good turnout and event
March - ETCFC participates in "Washington Days" event in DC to talk to legislators about alternative fuels
February - Team of Blount County partners collectively becomes a Founding ($4,000) Partner with the ETCFC!
January - ETCFC has booth at the Healthy Living Expo at the Convention Center in Knoxville
January - ETCFC begins advertising with the Knoxville News Sentinel through the "Ask the Experts" program
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December 2005 --
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November 2005 --
- 10th - First Board of Director's meeting (used to be called the "Steering Committee"); pictured at right, some of the board members - find out more about the board here
- 8th - Minge's Greenhouse in northeast Knox County becomes the first bioheat (biodiesel blended with heating oil) user in East Tennessee, and probably Tennessee (see press release)
- 7th - Met with State Senator Raymond Finney to discuss local action for biodiesel in Sevier County and ideas for biofuels legislation for the state of Tennessee
- 3rd - Presentation to UTK Environmental Writing class about ETCFC's effort and actions
- 3rd - Presentation to and meeting with Knox County's fleet supervisors and assistant directors on their switch to biodiesel - QnA session
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October 2005 --
- 25th - Along with the other two coordinators for the state, presented to the Tennessee Trucking Association annual meeting in Fall Creek Falls
- 25th - Meeting with Blount Farmers Co-op to help them get started offering biodiesel
- 25th - Presented to Deni Sobek's 10th, 11th and 12th grade science classes at Oak Ridge HS
- 20th - Presented to the TN Chamber of Commerce & Industry at their annual conference
- 19th - Participated in SACE's global warming meeting in Oak Ridge
- 19th - Presented to the "International Sustainability Development Symposium" at UTK on ETCFC effort
- 14th - ETCFC celebrates "Beyond a Billion" event in Knoxville and Chattanooga
- 5th - WBIR Channel 10 airs spot on Waste Management looking into starting a biodiesel program at Regal Fuels
- 1st - On the Air with Bill Johns on "Wildfire Southeast" on WVLZ 1180 AM
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September 2005 --
- 29th - Benton Oil's Chattanooga "Biodiesel for Fleets" Workshop
- 28th - McNutt Oil's Maryville "Biodiesel for Fleets" Workshop
- 27th - Tri-Cities Petroleum's Kingsport "Biodiesel for Fleets" Workshop
- 24th - ETCFC participates in the dedication of 4 Toyota Prius to the Smokies
- 21st - Meeting with Don Boyer of Autotherm to discuss their inexpensive, idle-reduction product
- 19th - On the Air with Phil Williams on "The Phil Show" on WNOX 100.3 FM
- 13th - Presented at a state workshop on biodiesel for TDOT folks
- 9th-18th - Volunteers help the ETCFC have a booth at the TVA&I Fair for 10 days!
- 9th-11th - Attended the TN Soybean Festival in Martin, TN and held a Tour-de-Force to learn about biodiesel use in upper West TN
- 8th - Presented to the East TN Farmers Co-op Manager's Meeting in Rockford
- 8th - Presented to the TN Pollution Prevention Roundtable at Denso
- 7th - Interview with the Halls Shopper
- 7th - Presented to the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership's Agribusiness Council
- 1st - Presented to Nancy Rickenbach's 9th grade geography class at Maryville HS
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August 2005 --
- 31st - Presented to the SWANA Quad-State Conference on biodiesel for the Southeast Alt Fuels Task Force
- 27th - ETCFC participates in the "Clean Air Fair" at Ijams Nature Center
- 25th - Regal Fuels' Knoxville "Biodiesel for Fleets" Workshop
- 24th - Presented to the Knox County CAC/Americorps team
- 23rd - Presented to the Sevier Peace Fellowship in Sevierville
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July 2005 -- Metro Wrecker Service Begins Using B20 in Wrecker
 In July, Metro Wrecker out of Blount County, Tennessee began using B20 in their main towing vehicle (a rollback). See his picture and learn a little about his story by visiting our Biodiesel Brigade page!
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July 2005 -- BAE Systems Moves to B5 in Their Fleet in Kingsport
BAE Systems, a munitions manufacturer in Kingsport, has moved their entire fleet to a B5 blend and has their sights on B20 in the not-so-distant future. We're currently gathering more information on this fleet's switch -- expect more info in the next few days.
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July 2005 -- Pimentel Ethanol/Biodiesel Study Rejected Due to Faulty and Misleading Data
Recently, a study that a PhD entomologist, David Pimentel, at Cornell University produced gained public press due to its damning of the idea that ethanol (and biodiesel) are wise choices for transportation fuels, primarily focusing on the energy efficiency of producing both fuels. The below documents are provided in attempts to "clear the air" on the data.
In a nutshell, it appears that Dr. Pimentel chose to use older data and excluded co-product energy allocation, among other things, during his life cycle analysis to make these fuels look like they are bad for America (see the documents for a better description of what I'm talking about). Other researchers actually degreed in the field of agriculture, in more recent studies, haven't reached the same conclusions he has as you will see in the below information.
Most are short, so take a minute to read through several of these documents.
- "Key Differences between Pimentel/Patzek Study and Other Studies," a response from Michael Wang of Argonne National Laboratory (July 19, 2005, 44 KB, doc)
- Biodiesel - "Response to David Pimentel Biodiesel Life Cycle Analysis" (July 2005, 45 KB, pdf)
- Biodiesel - "NBB and USDA Statements on Pimentel Energy Balance Paper" (July 2005, 10 KB, pdf)
- Ethanol - "Argonne National Laboratory Ethanol Study: Key points" (March 2005, 52 KB, pdf)
- Ethanol - "Beating the Oil Companies to Death with a Stalk of Corn" (April 2005, 61 KB, doc)
- Ethanol - "The 2001 Net Energy Balance of Corn-Ethanol" (June 2004, 51 KB, pdf)
- "Anti-ethanol study roasted" (July 19, 2005; html from www.RockyMountainNews.com)
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July 2005 -- Washington County Moves to B5 in all On-road Diesel
 On July 15, this East Tennessee farmer's Co-op moved it's on-road diesel offering to B5, joining the Sevier and Hawkins' Farmers Co-ops that are doing the same. (In addition, several West Tennessee co-ops also offer bioblends at their co-ops). Tom Bible, co-op manager, led the way. The co-op is offering the B5 to their members through their cardlock facility, and to the general public through their public station. Find out more information about this biodiesel station by visiting our "Refueling Locations" page and the biodiesel stations list there.
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June 2005 -- City of Knoxville Puts Four Toyota Prius in Use
The City has purchased four hybrid Toyota Prius that are being utilized in the building inspections department. Over the coming months, you'll hear more about what the City of Knoxville is doing to put alternative fuels and advanced technologies into their fleet. See pictures on the 2005 pictures page (click here).
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June 24, 2005 -- Knoxville Utilities Board Puts B20 in Use in Entire Fleet
 KUB is "burnin' the bean" in 280 diesel vehicles and another 80 pieces of diesel equipment. They are one of the largest biodiesel fleets in East Tennessee now and are quite possibly the largest AFV fleet considering their other AFVS (see more pictures and read about their other AFVS on the 2005 pictures page (click here).
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May 2005 -- Panther Creek Switches Diesel Equipment to B20
 On May 23, 2005, Panther Creek State Park became the first state park to use any biodiesel blend in their diesel equipment. They use B20. They hope to lead by example and show the other 53 Tennessee state parks that moving to biodiesel is a fairly easy opportunity. It begins with education and research and the ETCFC is here to help!
See more pictures on the 2005 pictures page (click here).
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May 2005 -- Hawkins Farmers Co-op Begins Offering on- and off-road B5
 In early May 2005, the Hawkins County Co-op moved all their on-road and off-road diesel to B5. Co-op Manager Tom Henard had been looking into biodiesel for some time and decided it was time to act. He had known about co-ops in west TN offering biodiesel for some time, and was following the Sevier Farmers Co-op action with moving their on-road to B5 and had heard that things were going quite well there. With this move, all the diesel customers of the Co-op instantly become biodiesel users, and hopefully over time, biodiesel supporters! Tom's already got some members that want an even higher blend, which they may get in due time!
See more pictures on the 2005 pictures page (click here).
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April 23, 2005 -- ETCFC Showcases AFVs at Earth Fest
 2005's Earth Fest was our fourth year repressenting the AFV community at this regional event. As always, ETCFC parnters showed up to let folks see what kind of AFVs are at work in the East Tennessee area. This year, we added a fun and attention-getting event: the Wheel of Clean Air! Contestants could spin their way to prizes by tackling some tough (and some easy) questions about air quality in our area. The real champs were the contestants as they got a chance to learn about our air quality while having fun!
See more pictures on the 2005 pictures page (click here).
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February 24, 2005 -- ETCFC Presents Keynote at Eastman's Engineer's Week
Every year, Eastman puts together an Engineer's Week for regional middle and high school students. In 2005, they reached approximately 3,000 students at Tri-Cities area schools teaching them basic engineering principles in an effort to spur growth of the "engineer inside of them" (we all have one, don't we?). :) They were awefully kind to invite the ETCFC to present the keynote address during their banquet on the last night of the week-long event. The crowd was very responsive and positive to learning about alternative fuels' growth in East Tennessee, and the Engineer's Week committee presented the ETCFC with a $100 sponsorship check!
This is just one example of how Eastman is helping the ETCFC reach out and into the Tri-Cities community to move our message to them. Thanks Eastman!
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January 2005 -- Sevier Farmers Co-op Moves all On-road Diesel to B5
 If you didn't know already, know you do -- the Sevier Farmers Co-op is doing its part to help East Tennessee embrace and begin really using alternative fuels. On Jan. 4, 2005, the changed over all their on-road diesel fuel to a B5 blend, on-the-spot effectively creating MANY air quality actors for change out of their diesel refuelers. See pictures from the opening ceremony here. The fuel for the project is being supplied by Clinch River Valley Energy Group, represented my Mike Ellis who was in attendance at the ceremony.
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December 2004 -- Alcoa Moves 550 Vehicles to B20
 In one big move for East TN, the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) in Alcoa, TN switched 550 pieces of diesel equipment to B20 on November 1, 2004. Read more info and see the pictures here.
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October 2004 -- ETCFC Holds Official Designation Ceremony
 On October 12, 2004, we held our designation ceremony on the front lawn of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We had been notified of meeting all the requirements to becoming a designated partner in the U.S. DOE's Clean Cities Program in January 2004, but due to several reasons waited to hold the official ceremony. We are proud to be a member of this great group of dedicated coalitions that are all over the United States that are championing alternative fuels and hybrids for their communities! See all the pictures from the event on our Designation page.
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October 2004 -- ETCFC Participates in UTK's Engineers' Day
 As a part of our growing relationship with students and faculty at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, we joined in for the 2004 Engineers' Day on campus. a mob of high schoolers came in with questions galore, before we settled in with some of those with more in-depth questions. Dan Pursglove and Mike Whedbee, who both brought their diesel vehicles that run on B20, joined Jonathan Overly to talk with the students about alternative fuels in their community.
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September 2004 -- Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) goes 100% B20 in Diesel Fleet
 After stepping through using B5 and then B10, KAT has moved to B20 in all their diesel fleet. That totals to a little over 80 vehicles, which are big, localized users of diesel for the Knoxville community--that equals significant emissions reductions for Knoxville! With the move, KAT has gone from 1 to about 100 AFVs (biodiesel, dedicated propane, hybrid-electric propane, hybrids) in their fleet in 19 months!
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August 2004 -- 3 Public B20 Stations, and Possibly More!
Now that the Loudon Mr. Gas Texaco has been converted over to B20, McNutt Oil now has three public stations where B20 is offered to the public! Click here to see specific information on these locations, or click the small East TN map shown below to see a more general map of where they are in East TN. McNutt is helping the ETCFC bring biodiesel to the public, and folks are calling frequently to find out more about biodiesel and the future of biodiesel in the region.
See pictures of the station in Alcoa!
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Spring 2004 -- Biodiesel Galore!
 We're are experiencing some great participation right now from new biodiesel users! Across multiple counties, city & county governments, for-profits, national parks, transit agencies are leading the way in East Tennessee to biodiesel use. Two primary companies are building biodiesel production facilities, Clinch River Valley Energy Group (CRV) in Sevierville and Blue Sky Biodiesel in Harriman are ramping up operations! CRV is a little ahead of Blue Sky right now, but both are preparing to make a difference in their community!
See our "ET - biodiesel" page for more information on who's coming on-board using biodiesel in East TN!
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January, 2004 -- Designated!
Although we found out in January, we have been keeping this somewhat under wraps for several months. Through developing a significant network of volunteers and stakeholders, and putting together our Program Plan, the ETCFC's plan was accepted! Although we still have to hold our designation ceremony, we are now and official participant in the national DOE Clean Cities program.
This designation brings a laundry list of benefits to East Tennessee, but first and foremost is the chance to apply for grant funds that are set aside for designated Clean Cities coalitions. Due to our timing in becoming designated, we were able to submit three proposals this year to fund projects and the ETCFC.
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April 10, 2004 -- Run for Clean Air!
The inagural "Run for Clean Air" 5K (runners and walkers welcome!) will happen at 9am April 2 along Cherokee Boulevard. The ETCFC and the Regional Clean Air Coalition will work together to cohost the event. The event will be focused around showcasing what East Tennesseans can do to help improve air quality in the Tennessee Valley. Click here to see the Run page!
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April 2, 2004 -- National AFV Day Odyssey!
 This was a national event that mobilizes local Clean Cities coalitions and other groups interested in supporting alternative fuels to build local events that collectively make the local and national evening news. Different locations put on different events (e.g., fairs, ride-n-drives, fund-raising dinners) but the focus of each is advancing the alternative fuels usage movement.
 The ETCFC's event was a fair-like with some special events scheduled during the day but with showcases of AFVs running all day long. The event was held at the World's Fair Park Festival Lawn area from 9am to 4pm and brought together many community users of alternative fuels, researchers, fuel producers and fuel distributors to share information on how alternative fuels are beginning to make a difference in East Tennessee's economy, air quality and contribution to national security.
See our 2004 Odyssey page and all the pictures!
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February 1-2, 2004 -- National Biodiesel Conference &ammp; Exposition
The ETCFC will be present at this conference to learn more about how to make biodiesel successful in our community. Many workshops and classes will be attended to gain insights into how others are making it work in their communities, and gather specific stories about how it's working in other U.S. locations.
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November 20, 2003 -- Blount County Biodiesel Meeting!
On this date, the ETCFC held its 2nd biodiesel meeting for 2003 in Maryville, Tennessee. About 30 attended to learn about the benefits that biodiesel can bring to East Tennesseans. Click here or on the Daily Times logo at right to read the online article that was in the 11/22/03 edition on the biodiesel meeting! Also, Click here or on the picture at right to see the group discussing biodiesel as a fuel for Blount County.
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August 18, 2003 -- August Update
1. We are hot-n-heavy into developing the Program Plan! We expect to have our first draft completed by August 31, then submit it for reviews, hopefully ending around end of November with a positive response from the Clean Cities program in Washington D.C.!
2. Our biodiesel efforts are expected to take-off shortly as we await some paperwork processing. If successful, we are hopeful that we will be using between 30,000 and 60,000 gallons per month by the end of the year!
3. Have started bimonthly (every other month) meetings in Chattanooga, and hope to get similar meetings started in Tri-Cities before the end of the year.
4. Quite a few stakeholders/members are moving forward on projects, whether that includes alt fuel infrastructure or AFVs.
5. Have two new dues-paying members so far in August! See our stakeholders page for a complete listing of members (the new ones are marked as "New").
6. Have two radio spots running (B-97.5 and Oldies 95/7/106.7, and the Tennessee Smokies games) and three new newspaper/magazine spots either out or coming out in the next few months (Smoky Mountain Summer Guide, The Hellbender, and AAA of East TN's Going Places)!
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July 11, 2003 -- Summer Update
Several items are hot issues right now for the ETCFC: finishing our first draft of the Program Plan, advancing our biodiesel effort, and building a bimonthly meeting in Chattanooga (and hopefully soon in Tri-Cities).
~ Our ambitious plan is to have our coalition designated by the end of the year, which will include on the order of 5 reviews in the next 5 months!
~ The biodiesel effort is really taking shape, with McNutt Oil (Blount County) quite close to starting B20 delivery service to East TN locations; we've got a handful of organizations that are ready to start using the fuel (as B20) once delivery is available.
~ We've had 1 clean fuels subsector meeting in Chattanooga in June, and our next is planned for August 19th. One entity, Chattanooga Area Regional Transit Authority (CARTA), has already expressed interest in using (another!) alt fuel: biodiesel. They're now exploring that possibility and hope to soon be able to see how they might start using biodiesel (as B20 most likely) in their transit fleet.
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June 11, 2003 -- Biodiesel Workshop in Knoxville!
On this day from 8am until 12:30pm there will be a biodiesel workshop! Many different facets of biodiesel production and use will be discussed, including its cost, incentives/opportunities for reducing its cost, cold weather issues, engine manufacturer's warranties with regard to the use of different biodiesel mixes, tank cleaning importance, the opportunity to help Tennessee soybean farmers through the use of biodiesel, etc. There will be a variety of experts on-hand to make presentations and participate in an expected 2-hour discussion on the particulars associated with biodiesel's use. For more information, click here or on the image at right to access the 1-page flyer on the event. To register, please either call or email Jonathan Overly with your information! Phone - 865-974-3625; email - jgoverly@utk.edu.
(Click here to access the Web page for all the information that was presented that day!)
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May 17-21, 2003 -- the Annual Clean Cities Conference in sunny Palm Springs, CA!
The 9th Annual Clean Cities Conference was held and was a fantastic opportunity to see, learn and be more proactive for American fuel vehicles! Vehicle manfuacturers of all sizes and types were on-hand to show off their AFVs, sessions were developed to discuss many of the common issues that occur with trying to expand alternative fuel vehicle sales and infrastructure in coalition areas, and displays were setup to provide opportunities for attendees to speak directly with a wide variety of associated companies and industries that either make products related to AFVs or are companies currently using AFVs in their fleets. If there is one national event that someone wants to attend to learn more about AFVs, this one is it!
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April 26, 2003 -- EarthFest! Knoxville's Celebration of Earth Day
The ETCFC was busy that day as an "Advancing the Choice" event was held at EarthFest showcasing 4 American fuel vehicles (AFVs):
- a dedicated CNG police cruiser from the City of Gatlinburg's fleet,
- a bi-fuel (propane/gasoline) Ford F-150 Xtra cab,
- an all-electric Ford Ranger, and
- a Honda Civic Hybrid.
The team on-hand included representatives of the Gatlinburg police force, TVA, Ted Russell Ford and the ETCFC. Over 150 people stopped by to learn more about the ETCFC's effort! (Click the image at right to see a larger version that shows the day and the vehicles!)
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April 25, 2003 -- The Regional Clean Air Action Summit
As an outgrowth of the desire to stay in attainment for ozone in East TN, and being lead by Knox County, on the order of 12 counties in central East Tennessee joined forces to put on this Summit. The Summit attracted over 200 people and put information in local people's hands on how they can help in the effort to reduce ozone formation by 1) using alternative fuels, 2) increasing energy efficiency, 3) using more mass transit and ride-share programs and expanding other alternatives like biking to work, and 4) utilizing ozone action days as a way to distribute information on what people can do on expected bad ozone days to reduce its formation. Dignitaries that were on-hand to make comments or presentations included Senator Lamar Alexander, Representative Zach Wamp (3rd district) and Betsy Child, the director of the TN Dept. of Environment and Conservation (TDEC).
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March 20, 2003 -- Sevierville Steps up to the Plate!
At the March ETCFC meeting, a document was shared with the meeting attendees. The City of Sevierville has created a resolution to seek out cleaner fuel technologies to improve air quality and reduce foreign oil dependence. Click here to see/read the resolution!
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March 11 and 12, 2003 -- Washington Days, Washington DC
Several Tennessee envoys went to the National Clean Cities, Inc. sponsored "Washington Days" event, which is an annual event that helps Clean Cities coalitions make contact with their federal legislators. For the ETCFC this went well, as we met with Zach Wamp (representative, 3 disctrict-TN) and Jimmy Duncan (representative, 2-TN) directly, and met with assistants for Lamar Alexander (senator, TN) and Bill Jenkins (representative, 1-TN). We will use this as a jumping-off point to create better relationships with our legislators. See some images from Washington Days 2003 on the Pictures page.
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March 5 and 6, 2003 -- Regional Environmental Conference in Greeneville, TN
This conference is an annual event, which was held in Greeneville this year, and is put on by TDEC. Speakers this year included Tony DeLucia of ETSU and the national American Lung Association, Betsy Child - the new commissioner of TDEC, and Quincy Styke of the Air Pollution Control Department within TDEC. The ETCFC has already asked to have a time slot in next year's presentations, with a favorable response. See some images from the event on the Pictures page.
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January 19, 2003 -- Added Projects page to the Web site
Due to the growing number of AFV projects in East TN, we added a repository for holding information on those projects on the Web site. The Projects page contains information on each project either completed or underway, and pictures of the vehicles and/or infrastructure. Look for more information on that page in the near future.
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Bob Colby of ATTI presents Jonathan Overly with the first installment of ATTI's partnership funding for the ETCFC on January 16, 2003.
Thanks Bob!
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December 12, 2002 -- ATTI makes $20,000 pledge to the ETCFC
At a meeting of Leadership Chattanooga, Zach Wamp announced that the Advanced Transportation Technology Institute (ATTI; formerly ETVI) has made a pledge to the ETCFC of $20,000 in funding and an additional $10,000 of in-kind marketing and education outreach support! This funding will help the coalition take a big step toward becoming a permanaent force for cleaner air and energy independence in East Tennessee. Below are two links: one to the release from ETVI, and the other an online note in the Chattanoogan on the pledge.
• Release from ETVI (MS Word; 27 KB)
• Article at the Chattanoogan.com (online article; backup of article in html - 45 KB)
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Fall 2002 -- Articles on the ETCFC in Publications
Several publications have contained articles on the ETCFC recently, and one will have an article in the near future.
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 November 6-7, 2002 -- Building Alternative Fuel Networks in the Southeast
A workshop will take place over two days (full day on the 6th, half day on the 7th) and will address the opportunity for flushing out the major barriers associated with building "clean corridors" in the Southeast U.S., and attempt to start building the communication channels that are needed to move to action in building such alt fuel networks. The workshop hotel will be the Holiday Inn Sunspree, in Asheville, North Carolina. A Web site has been developed to provide more information on this workshop: http://www.landofsky.org/afworkshop.htm. Additionally, a brochure is available for more information, including registration information: Alt Fuels Workshop Brochure.
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Clean Cities of Middle Tennessee (CCMT) gets Web site up and running - October 2002
The CCMT now has its own Web site (www.CleanCitiesofMiddleTennessee.org), where they are starting to place info on their activities and participants. Check them out!
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Coalition Activities - Summer 2002
On Thursday, July 18th, the ETCFC met for the fourth time, at the Copper Cellar on Cumberland Avenue in Knoxville. The coalition is surging ahead with the effort to become designated under the national Clean Cities program. Over 50 people representing 33 organizations have attended the meetings, with  most working toward becoming coalition members (see the Join Us! page for information on becoming a member).
At the July meeting, stakeholders split out for the first time into the three Working Committees (read more about the Working Committees here), and starting getting to know one another and laying out plans for what the ETCFC is going to work on over the next few years. See who is currently involved in the coalition here.
In addition, several other coalition tasks are moving along, including responding to several RFPs with proposals for raising funds to do coalition work. Another big taks that is closer to fruition is obtaining a coalition AFV that will be a rolling billboard for the coalition (most likely a bi-fuel [propane/gasoline] Ford F-150 - that should be a nice, big billboard!). Also, the Program Plan is coming together nicely. The group has a goal of getting the first draft of the Program Plan completed during October 2002. If we have all our things in order, we hope to have set a time for the official designation ceremony by early 2003!
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Clean Air Week: June 24th - 29th, 2002
Sevier County held a demonstration for alternative fuel vehicles during national Clean Air Week, kicking off on June 24th. The vehicles utilized that week to move people around Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park included
- an all-electric trolley,
- several hybrid eletric buses and trolleys and
- two natural gas buses (big ones!).
In addition, several "ride-n-drive" light-duty vehicles were on-hand, including the Honda Insight, Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius. To learn more, read one of the documents below, or contact ETVI (Web site - www.etvi.org), who was in-charge of the event.
- 'Sevier County kicks off “Clean Air Week” with Electric and Fuel Cell Buses' Announcement (pdf; 24 KB)
- Basic Agenda (MS Word; 35 KB)
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