District 5 candidates Charlie Hatcher, a Republican farmer and former Tennessee agriculture commissioner, and Chaz Molder, the Democratic mayor of Columbia, share pride in Tennessee’s nuclear energy work and see renewable energy sources as tools for powering the state’s future.
But they take different approaches on federal government involvement and dealing with nuclear waste.
The contenders are vying for a district that spans some of the state’s most and least populated areas, including counties where local economies have ties to renewable energy sources.
The majority of the 54 solar farms in Tennessee are concentrated in West Tennessee. The 5th Congressional District includes several solar farms, including the state’s largest in rural Lake County.
The district is also home to some of Tennessee’s top agricultural counties, where corn and soybeans remain among the leading commodity crops. About 46% of Tennessee’s corn yield is used to make ethanol fuel, according to Tennessee Corn, a coalition of farmer-funded corn promotion groups. The majority of Tennessee’s soybean yield is used for animal feed, but oil extracted from the beans is also used to make biodiesel fuel.