Eco Report

HEADLINES All stories this week by Norm Holy Indiana is often where out-of-state corporations propose to put highly polluting processes. WFYI reports a company that wants to build a coal-to-diesel plant in southern Indiana has hit a roadblock. Flexsteel Industries Inc. has agreed to a consent decree that requires it to pay $9.8 million for the cleanup of contamination at …

HEADLINES All stories this week are by Norm Holy. The proposed “Houston South Vegetation Management and Restoration Project” risked increasing sediment runoff into the South Fork of Salt Creek. Ultimately, the court ruled in favor of the Forest Service plan. Inside Indiana Business presented the results of a new report from Advanced Energy Economy which states that the increase in …

HEADLINES All stories written by Norm Holy Indiana received federal approval to begin work on a statewide charging network as more and more electric vehicles hit the roads. The state will invest nearly $100 million over the next five years to build out its EV charging network. Enrique Saenz of the Indiana Environmental Reporter has summarized plans to address the …

HEADLINES All stories this week are by Norm Holy A plan to construct in Northwest Indiana one of the largest commercial solar energy systems in the world is likely to remain at least partially unrealized for the near future. The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the Aug. 24, 2021, Pulaski Superior Court ruling that halted the portion of the Mammoth …

HEADLINES All stories this week were written by Norm Holy Getting rid of coal ash ponds continues to be a problem in Indiana. Residents and civil rights organizations in Michigan City are concerned they will face a water crisis if something isn’t done about a power generating station’s leftover coal ash. The oil company BP has agreed to pay $2.7 …

HEADLINES  It’s obvious why Indiana is the target for new ventures that are very likely to pollute the air. They know that Indiana’s air-pollution laws are very weak. Politicians want new jobs no matter how polluting the industry. —Norm Holy Wind energy prices — particularly in the central United States, are key to selecting wind as the low-cost option, said …

HEADLINES Of Indiana’s original 20 million acres of forest, fewer than 2,000 acres of old-growth forests remain intact. Some types of interior forests are considered to be old growth if they contain trees that are more than 140 years old. Most of the sites that remain are now protected as nature preserves, and many have been selected as National Natural …

HEADLINES Two Indiana groups have joined a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to protect people and the environment from toxic coal ash in landfills that are no longer being used. —Norm Holy The herbicide atrazine is making frogs croak — and not in a good way. Because it’s so widely used across the United States for weed …

HEADLINES Station WYHI (Terre Haute) reports bee populations are declining. More than half of the bat species in the United States are in severe decline or listed as endangered. And international scientists recently announced the monarch butterfly is perilously close to extinction. —Norm Holy A new study from the First Street Foundation has shown the coming development of what it …

HEADLINES The federal Inflation Reduction Act, according to a story by WFYI, could help Indiana utilities and other businesses to adopt renewable energy like solar — but whether it will encourage Indiana residents to do the same is unclear. —Norm Holy The Indiana Environmental Reporter said in a press release that the EPA and the State of Indiana filed a …