The river city of Chattanooga has completed a remarkable transition from environmental wasteland to scenic tourist destination over the last few decades. Following WWII, the city became an industrial and manufacturing wonderland, but by 1969, the US government had labeled Chattanooga the dirtiest city in the country. Nearly 40 years later, the city has found an apparent balance with its surroundings, as cultural institutions such as the Tennessee Aquarium and the Hunter Museum of American Art hug the river’s bluffs and locals frolic in floodplain parks.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press is the region’s daily newspaper, and on the day of my visit, it focused largely on economic news. The only science-related piece in the paper was a cover story in the local section about the TVA’s financial condition and potential modes of energy generation. The TVA, shorthand for the Tennessee Valley Authority, is a government-owned corporation set up in 1933 as a part of Roosevelt’s New Deal. The goal was to deal with navigation, fertilizer production, energy generation, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, and the headquarters were established in Chattanooga.

These days, the power plants of the TVA are facing the cost hikes that come with minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. It is here that the tires meet the pavement: the financial costs of cleaning up power plants will likely be felt stronger and faster in Chattanooga than nearly anywhere else in the country. The Times Free Press’ article looked mostly at the TVA’s current financial status with a brief discussion of the principles of climate change and pollution. The final scorecard reads….

Science-Only Articles:
Local: 0
Other: 0

Science-Related Articles:
Local: 1
Other: 0