Mission: Coalition for Jobs and the Environment (CJE) was founded in 1990 to coordinate and assist the efforts of isolated grassroots citizens' groups in northeast Tennessee and southwestern Virginia who were originally combating the issues of using abandoned coal mines as landfills for solid waste and incinerator ash from non-regional states. Jobs and money became the main leverage tools to encourage communities to support this type of industry. CJE helped member groups to organize and fight this industry by examining the sources of incoming wastes and the effects they would have on the regional economy, water, air, and land. Currently, CJE is working on job initiatives in the region that support entrepreneurship and is establishing programs in local communities to introduce career opportunities for youth in the fields of wildlife management, horticulture and education, along with sponsoring an annual conference and publishing a quarterly newsletter.
