I've been watching the spectacular photographs taken of the world's most populous cities, with the clouds of pollution lifted, bright skies, and the ability to see for miles for the first time in decades. Knoxville has also benefited from the reduced traffic, with vivid blue skies dotted with stunning cloud formations not seen in years. South Knoxville, located under approaches to the airport, has been given a welcome reprieve from heavy air traffic producing noise and air pollution. How nice to not be seeing or breathing the black fuel dust or hearing jet noise much of the day and night.

That said, we should not forget the two environmental disasters that occurred under the Haslam mayoral administration. The first was the doubling of the width of I-40 as it passed through downtown, a project given the name SmartFix. At one of the first community meetings held under Haslam's tenure, TDOT was confronted by angry citizens concerned about the economic and environmental impact of the project. Questioned about the disruption to traffic during the proposed 18 month construction, the TDOT rep responded that traffic would be routed around the city on I-640 and we would hardly notice the disruption (which in fact proved to be true). One member of the audience then asked the obvious question: If we'd hardly notice the disruption, why wouldn't I-40 be closed forever? Next question.

The second disaster came with the visual and environmental destruction that followed the approval and construction of the student housing developments on Cherokee Trail. County Commission shares the blame for that unfortunate set of projects. How is it possible that, in the 21st century, we're still cutting ridges in half, destroying natural habitats, and removing old growth trees? Given what science is telling us, that's not smart economic development.

Unfortunately, we're now seeing similar environmental destruction next to Kern's Bakery.