Eco Report – July 7, 2023

And now for your environmental reports:

Here’s something Bloomington should jump on. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced the $7 billion “Solar for All” grants competition to increase affordable solar energy access to millions of low-income households, a press release from the EPA said. As part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America plan, the availability of more residential solar will provide lower-cost energy while leveling the renewable energy access playing field and helping to mitigate the climate crisis.

The Solar for All grants competition was created by the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and will award as many as 60 grants to states, Tribal governments, territories, municipalities and eligible nonprofits to help expand solar investment in disadvantaged and low-income communities. The grants will be used to expand and create solar programs that provide technical assistance like workforce development and financing so that these communities can benefit from residential solar.

“At a time when people are struggling to make ends meet, all while dealing with the existential threat of climate change, we must make residential rooftop solar a reality for low-income and working families that need it most,” said U.S. Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders in the press release. This $7 billion residential solar program that I introduced and the EPA is administering is a major step in the right direction.

The application deadline for the grants is September 26, 2023. A recording of the public briefing on the Notice of Funding Opportunity will be available on the EPA’s GGRF website. There will also be an informational webinar on the competition from 1 to 3 p.m. on July 12. You can register here for the webinar, which will also be posted on the GGRF website. The website includes resources and tools for applicants.

More information can be found at grants.gov.

—Norm Holy

Honeybees are crucial to the food supply, pollinating more than 100 of the crops we eat, including nuts, vegetables, berries, citrus and melons. Scientists said a combination of parasites, pesticides, starvation and climate change keep causing large die-offs.

Last year’s 48% annual loss is up from the previous year’s loss of 39% and the 12-year average of 39.6%, but it’s not as high as 2020-2021’s 50.8% mortality rate, according to the survey funded and administered by the nonprofit research group Bee Informed Partnership. Beekeepers told the surveying scientists that 21% loss over the winter is acceptable and more than three-fifths of beekeepers surveyed said their losses were higher than that.

“This is a very troubling loss number when we barely manage sufficient colonies to meet pollination demands in the U.S.,” said former government bee scientist Jeff Pettis, president of the global beekeeper association Apimondia that wasn’t part of the study. It also highlights the hard work that beekeepers must do to rebuild their colony numbers each year.

The overall bee colony population is relatively steady because commercial beekeepers split and restock their hives, finding or buying new queens, or even starter packs for colonies, said University of Maryland bee researcher Nathalie Steinhauer, the survey’s lead author. It’s an expensive and time consuming process.

—Norm Holy

But this state at the center of the American auto industry has also been a laggard when it comes to climate action, resistant to environmental regulations that could harm the manufacturing that has underpinned its economy for generations. That may soon change.

Michigan is one of three states where Democrats won a “blue trifecta” last year, taking control of the governor’s office and both legislative chambers, and they are seizing that opportunity to propose some of the most ambitious climate laws in the world. The centerpiece is based on a 58-page “MI Healthy Climate” plan offered by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. It would require Michigan to generate all of its electricity from solar, wind or other carbon-free sources by 2035, eliminating the state’s greenhouse pollution generated by coal- and gas-fired power plants. The package would also toughen energy efficiency requirements for electric utilities and require a phaseout of coal-fired plants in the state by 2030.

Coal — the dirtiest of the fossil fuels — provided the largest share of electricity in Michigan, followed by nuclear energy and natural gas, in 2021, the most recent year for which data was compiled by the Energy Information Administration. Solar and wind generated about 11 percent of the state’s electricity.

In Indiana, 10 percent of power comes from wind/solar. There is no big plan to expand these sources. The legislature is talking about nuclear reactors and carbon sequestration, which would permit the burning of coal for a long time. Discussion of “climate change” is not allowed. Indiana is clearly a laggard in reducing carbon emissions.

—Norm Holy

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced plans this spring to fund nearly 150 projects, including four in Ohio. The $8.2 million for those four projects is just a tiny part of almost $6 billion authorized over the next few years for NOAA’s climate-related programs under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Yet the projects provide creative approaches to cleanup, conservation and restoration.

“It’s important to take these actions now because of the pressures from climate change on our planet, and also in looking at the pressures that brings specifically to our coastal areas where 40 percent of the population lives,” said Joelle Gore, chief of the stewardship division for NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management. Ohio seems to be starting to right the ship after years of corruption and aversion to anything green.

—Norm Holy

And now, we go to Zyro Roze and his conversation with Jami Scholl about the benefits of permaculture gardens for human health and planetary balance as well as the challenges posed by this year’s weather, climate change and local wildlife in terms of organic local urban agriculture. 

And now for some upcoming events:

Enjoy Insect Black Lighting at Griffy Lake Nature Preserve on Saturday, July 8th, from 8 to 9:30 pm.  Sit under the stars and watch insects come to the glowing canvas.  You will learn about black lighting and insects.  Register at bloomington.in.gov/parks.

This week’s headlines were written by Norm Holy. Today’s news feature was produced by Zyro Roze and edited by Noelle Herhusky-Schneider. Julianna Dailey assembled the script which was edited by Zyro Roze. Julianna Dailey compiled our events calendar. Kade Young and Noelle Herhusky-Schneider produced today’s show. Branden Blewett is our engineer. 

For WFHB, I’m Julianna Dailey. And I am Cynthia Roberts.  And this is Eco Report!