Marvy Nessim –
Carleigh Hughes and Aubrey Katzenmiller from Wilson Central High School had a first-year YIG experience like no other. Not only did their bill pass, but with no debate whatsoever and an endorsement from the governor herself. Since a motion was passed to skip the debate, the two just moved to their summation. It was also a unanimous vote, though there were a few delegates who were not present.
Bill WHB/22-1-7 is an act to protect the safety of Tennessee’s drinking water; it would include adding an additional two inspectors under environmental regulators in the Tennessee Oil and Gas Program, updating state fracking regulations done by the TDEC, and changing the method from hydro-based to nitrogen-based fracking in the Chattanooga Shale. High-pressure water fracking would be monitored on a case-by-case basis and anyone who violates regulations would be fined or face imprisonment carried out through task forces.
When asked how they came up with the seemingly foolproof bill idea, Representative Hughes responded, “Given the current state of the environment, especially in Tennessee, there aren’t many bills protecting our natural resources- which is really important. So, we knew we wanted to do something environmentally based.” Though policymakers have implemented a number of regulations, Tennessee is still ranked #39 in Natural Environment. Hopefully, with these two environmentalists, the state can be encouraged to start passing a greater number of bills focused on natural resources and real change can be achieved.
Getting ready to go up and speak behind the podium involves severe stomach aches and intense hours of researching. Hughes and Katzenmiller were able to power through to insure their bill had no holes and their hard work paid off in the end when they dominated the playing field. Their tips to future delegates are to research your topic thoroughly and to make sure to take very detailed notes to have in case someone tries to take your idea down.
Hard, tiring weeks go into researching and finalizing bills, so seeing your bill make it through each component and finally pass must be a heavenly experience. As the representatives’ bill progressed further, the two still continued learning and looking more into their topic. They were finally able to feel relief once their bill got to the final step and successfully passed. Hughes states that they felt surprised, “especially because we went into it expecting to debate and we didn’t even have to do that because we didn’t have anyone try to object to it.”
Next year’s YIG is sure to be as eventful as this one, so watch out for these two again. When asked why they are interested in attending the conference next year, Katzenmiller explained that with the success they gained in only their first year, they are further motivated to keep exploring what else they could achieve.
Department of Public Information 