Eco Report

A group of Martinsville, Indiana, residents and business owners called a community action group is seeking to persuade others to allow federal officials to test the air in houses, apartment buildings and businesses that might be contaminated with the toxic chemicals tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene from a Superfund site that was formerly a dry-cleaning business. —Linda Greene WFYI reports that Indiana …

To build an idea of what possibilities may come, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation and numerous utility and corporate partners collaborated  to sponsor a wide-ranging study called “Powering Indiana’s Economic Future.” —Norm Holy A bill that could significantly reduce protections for Indiana’s wetlands was signed by Gov. Holcomb. The Indiana Environmental Council hoped the governor would veto the bill …

A British Petroleum refinery in northwest Indiana repeatedly violated air pollution standards for soot emissions between 2015 and 2018, a federal judge ruled in a lawsuit brought by environmental advocates, as reported by the Associated Press. —Norm Holy Indiana Public Radio reports that one of Indiana’s largest coal plants is expected to close in the next seven years. Indiana Michigan …

When the 2021 legislative session began, more than 75 bills related to the environment had been filed in Indiana’s General Assembly. But as the session passes its halfway point, more than two-thirds of those bills are now dead. —Norm Holy Radio station WBIW reports a new project will focus on assessing, protecting and improving water quality for the Lower Salt …

A state senate bill would study how to reduce consumer utility costs through securitization. Much like refinancing a home, it allows customers to pay off coal plants over a longer period of time at a lower rate— lowering energy bills. —Norm Holy  Indianapolis Power & Light Company is planning to acquire a 195-megawatt solar project. The project, which is expected …

The Indiana Environmental Reporter says a bill that would repeal state protections for Indiana’s diminishing wetlands passed the Senate’s Environmental Affairs Committee and is headed for consideration by the full Indiana Senate despite opposition from the agencies in charge of protecting the state’s environment and natural resources. —Norm Holy Southwestern Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life and Valley Watch have …

Purdue University engineers have created white paint that can keep surfaces up to 18 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than their surroundings but without consuming energy. According to the researchers, the paint would reduce the need for air conditioning by absorbing nearly no solar energy. The critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale has been spared, at least for now, from exposure to …

Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has weakened yet another safeguard against air pollution in the midst of a respiratory pandemic. The agency finalized a rollback of the Clinton-era “once in, always in” policy that required major polluters like industrial plants and refineries to maintain the highest possible levels of pollution controls as long as they continued to operate, Reuters reported. …

According to the EPA and the U-S Government Accountability Office, two Bloomington Superfund sites, Bennett Stone Quarry and Neal’s Landfill, are vulnerable to flooding from climate change. —Linda Greene On a two-hundred-acre tract of farmland in northeast Saint Joseph County, Fort Wayne-based Indiana Michigan Power is installing a solar farm, which it says will be capable of producing 20,000 kilowatts …

The massive redwood trees that dot the landscape of Northern California have survived through countless earthquakes and natural disasters. Yet the climate crisis may threaten their livelihood as the latest California wildfires have encroached upon the ancient trees, as NPR reported. —Norm Holy The Earth has lost thirty-one trillion tons of ice in just twenty-three years, and the climate crisis …