Eco Report

HEADLINES Because of the abundance of ruffed grouse, Grouseland was the name given by William Henry Harrison to his mansion in Vincennes. Even as recently as 1980, there were a good number of grouse. Their numbers dropped and by this century there were few survivors. —Norm Holy Fifty years ago, the U.S. passed the Clean Water Act with the goal …

HEADLINES Some Northern Indiana residents remain skeptical that communities in the area will be free of contamination from toxic coal ash despite a renewed commitment by government agencies and one of the state’s biggest energy companies to clean up polluted sites and transition to renewable energy sources. —Norm Holy IndyStar has issued report cards, and it’s not looking good for …

HEADLINES Two IU groups, Concerned Scientists at IU  and Advocates for Science, recently sent a letter to the university administrators asking the university to analyze how it affects the climate, to commit to becoming carbon neutral by a specific date, and to create a climate task force to realize that plan. —Linda Greene A story in the IndyStar has good …

HEADLINES On February 9th Sunrise Bloomington, along with IU Student Government, Students for a Green World and other student groups, met with IU president Pamela Whitten, Vice President of Capital Planning and Facilities Tom Morrison and IU Foundation President J. T. Forbes to discuss divestment from fossil fuels among other action steps to decrease the university’s role in exacerbating the …

HEADLINES According to the Louisville Courier Journal, the Biden administration is making its first significant move toward corralling lingering and widespread problems with toxic ash from coal-fired power plants, one of the nation’s most prominent environmental health legacies from more than a century of coal-fired electricity generation. —Norm Holy The New York Times reports America’s greenhouse gas emissions from energy …

  HEADLINES The U-S Fish and Wildlife Service can grant protections to the American bumblebee under the Endangered Species Act. In the past two decades, American bumblebee populations have dropped by 90%. —Linda Greene After months of lining up leases with several property owners to create a more-than-1,660-acre solar farm near Zionsville, NextEra Energy saw the project blocked in August …

HEADLINES In 2020, the oil, gas and coal industry spent over a $115 million  lobbying Congress to ensure that it would obtain fossil fuel subsidies. Currently, the industry receives $15 billion  of taxpayers’ money in direct federal subsidies every year. —Linda Greene More than 100 countries concluded a round of negotiations on global efforts to restore and protect the variety …

HEADLINES KPVI reports that Governor Eric Holcomb has appointed a top employee at the state’s environmental oversight agency to serve as its new leader. Brian Rockensuess began his tenure as commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management on Dec. 13. —Norm Holy Southern Indiana has recently expressed the view that they don’t like solar installation anywhere close to towns. …

  HEADLINES Doral Renewables has broken ground on the Mammoth Solar project in Indiana, set to be the US’s largest solar farm once complete. The 400 megawatts of energy produced here during the first phase of the project is enough to power 75,000 Midwestern households and will infuse millions of much-needed dollars into local Indiana communities. —Norm Holy At the …

HEADLINES The Indiana Environmental Reporter reviews the past and future of forests on state land. In the 1970s and 80s, Republican Indiana governors Orr and Bowen established three backcountry areas in state forests that would keep the backwoods intact and logging at bay. Today they are no longer safe from being logged. —Norm Holy A federal court in Los Angeles …