Eco Report – October 3, 2025

In this week’s Eco Report feature, Max Jancich and Ashton Harper talk to Andrew King, the director of RecycleForce, an Indy-based non-profit focused on e-waste recycling, to learn the broader story about recycling and misconceptions surrounding recycling.

The Trump administration just made a surprising decision to keep one of the Biden era’s strongest environmental rules intact. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the Superfund designation requiring polluters to pay for cleaning up toxic PFAS, known as “forever chemicals,” will continue to be enforced.

The rule designates two specific PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances under the Superfund law, meaning the companies that created PFAS contamination can be held legally responsible for cleaning it up, with price points into the billions. The decision keeps the burden of cleaning up this industrial pollution on the companies that created it, rather than taxpayers.

PFAS are called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down naturally and can accumulate in human bodies over decades. These chemicals have contaminated drinking water across the country, affecting millions of Americans. They’ve been linked to cancer, liver damage, and other dangerous health problems.

What makes this decision particularly notable is the contrast with the Trump administration’s broader approach to environmental regulation. This same EPA has delayed enforcement of drinking water limits and rescinded limits on other types of forever chemicals. The administration has also pulled back on other PFAS protections, such as withdrawing a proposed rule that would have limited PFAS in industrial wastewater discharges.

This decision to defend the Superfund designations stands in stark contrast to the administration’s broader deregulation agenda. But the practical effect is significant: this Superfund program addresses more than 800 hazardous substances and promotes safer industrial practices that secure protections for communities.

The environment had a major win last Monday, as Google abruptly withdrew its billion-dollar data center proposal for Franklin Township. This dramatic announcement happened just minutes before the Indianapolis City-County Council was scheduled to vote on the project. Since the 460-acre project was first proposed, residents have been raising concerns about the air pollution, noise, and higher electricity bills that would come from this massive facility.

This development would mean losing productive agricultural land forever, along with the natural habitat and carbon storage that farmland provides, and committing this community to an enterprise with known harmful effects.

But instead of simply sitting in worry, residents took action, attending public meetings and talking with representatives. By the time of the vote, seventeen city-county councilmembers had already publicly stated they would vote no to the rezoning. Rather than lose the vote publicly, Google pulled the plug on the entire proposal.

The lesson here is powerful: when communities unite against projects that threaten land, air quality, biodiversity, and local resources, they can win even against tech giants with billion-dollar budgets. When communities organize, their voices become impossible to ignore.

Tis the season for climate conversations! Leaders from around the world have been coming together to discuss climate strategies—From Climate Week NYC which kicked off recently, to the United Nations General Assembly on last Tuesday, to the UN’s Climate Change Conference, COP30, which takes place in Brazil this November.

Climate Week NYC successfully hosted over 1,000 events for climate stakeholders, including state and local community leaders, mayors, governors (not Indiana’s Mike Braun, however), corporate executives, and environmental advocates from around the world.

Although the U.S. has stepped back from federal climate action, the global perspective remains strong. Climate Week’s organizer Climate Group’s CEO Helen Clarkson notes that “the rest of the world is moving at this incredibly rapid pace, largely driven by China.” China’s manufacturing of renewable energy equipment and electric vehicles is driving down prices globally, leading other nations to move quickly to keep up with this clean technology development.

In a forceful speech at the U.N. General Assembly, Trump continued to spread misinformation and denial of the United States’s role in climate change. Despite this resistance, over 100 countries have come together in the past week to discuss solutions. Some of these nations are ravaged by hurricanes, droughts, famine, and disease, and the impact of climate change is visible in daily life.

Last Wednesday, U.N. member countries openly committed to their climate action plans. Major emitters divulged economy-wide targets to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and continue to push for further decarbonization. Other countries reiterated their commitment to renewable energy, preventing deforestation, and lowering methane emissions. This unified announcement of planet-centric changes signals a collaborative shift in global climate action. These talks are expected to continue at UN Climate Change Conference, COP30, in November.

In this week’s Eco Report feature, Max Jancich and Ashton Harper talk to Andrew King, the director of RecycleForce, an Indy-based non-profit focused on e-waste recycling, to learn the broader story about recycling and misconceptions surrounding recycling.

Credits:

On Air………………………………..Julianna Dailey
On Air………………………………..Carrie Albright
Headlines…………………………….Carrie Albright
Feature Report………………………… Max Jancich
Feature Report…………………….. Ashton Harper
Script…………………………………Julianna Dailey
Events Calendar…………………….Julianna Dailey
Engineer…………………………..Branden Blewett

Are you looking for a way to make a difference on environmental issues?

Eco Report is  looking for reporters, engineers, and segment producer to report facts on how we’re all affected by global climate disruption and the ongoing assaults on our air, land and water. We also celebrate ecologists, tree huggers, soil builders and other champions who actively protect and restore our natural world, particularly those who are active in south central Indiana. All levels of experience and all ages are welcome, and we provide the training you’ll need. WFHB also offers internships.

To volunteer for Eco Report, call at (812) 323-1200, or e-mail [email protected].