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In today’s feature report, WFHB Environmental Correspondent Carrie Albright speaks with Gillian Field, Urban Green Space Outreach Coordinator for the City of Bloomington. Field discusses environmental conservation efforts in the city and highlights the Adopt-a-Green-Space program, which invites residents to care for local parks with a one-year commitment, providing training and support. That interview is coming up later in the program.
Preston Rogers
And now for your environmental reports:
The U.S. Department of Energy just closed on a nearly $1.6 billion loan to Wabash Valley Resources for a fertilizer facility in West Terre Haute that would inject over 1.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually a mile below the earth’s surface —and local residents are speaking out. This type of carbon sequestration, the process of capturing and storing emissions in tanks, is touted as a win for reducing carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Yet the pressurized CO2 stored in these underground tanks can escape leading to heavy metal contamination and potentially undrinkable water quality.
Wabash Valley Resources plans to use carbon capture and storage technology in its fertilizer production, one of the cheaper industries to take advantage of this process. Energy Secretary Chris Wright framed it as reducing America’s dependence on foreign fertilizer sources, saying the project relies on “American coal, American workers, and American innovation.”
Citizens Action Coalition Executive Director Kerwin Olson called the project “exceptionally dangerous and risky,” arguing that the extended Terre Haute community would be exposed to significant threats to their environment, health, and water should the tanks ever be compromised. He emphasized that this project will increase toxic emissions, CO2 emissions, and is a false solution to the issue of pollution. Yet the EPA issued permits early last year allowing Wabash Valley Resources to construct wells. In fact, in early August, the EPA found that the injection and monitoring wells would have “no significant impact” on the environment. Some supporters even argue that this development would economically benefit Hoosier farmers.
But this project highlights a fundamental question in climate policy: Is carbon capture a necessary means to reduce emissions, or is it a lifeline to fossil fuel companies who let polluters keep polluting while putting communities at risk? For residents near West Terre Haute, this is about their water, their land, and who gets to decide what happens in their backyards. With construction potentially beginning soon, this issue remains an active topic of concern.
—Carrie Albright
Julianna Dailey
As world leaders prepare to gather in Brazil next week for the 30th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP 30, a chorus of voices are issuing an urgent call for “courageous action to protect God’s creation and people. “ Those voices are a collection of U.S. Catholic bishops and relief organizations are issuing an urgent call for meaningful commitments to climate change mitigation. The leaders are urging countries to invest in resiliency efforts, commit to bold mitigation that reduces harmful emissions, pledge recovery initiatives for vulnerable communities, and provide transparent climate finance including debt relief. This faith-based call for climate justice emphasizes that climate action surpasses environmental or even economic issues. Course-correcting climate change is an imperative that connects caring for the planet with caring for the world’s most vulnerable communities. As COP30 convenes in the Amazon, home to Earth’s largest rainforest, the question is whether world leaders will match moral urgency with concrete commitments.
—Carrie Albright
Preston Rogers
New York continues to drive progress, becoming one of the first states to require that every public school student—from kindergarten through high school—learns climate science.
These climate science classes will cover what’s causing climate change, local and global impacts as well as conservation and solutions. These concepts can be taught as stand-alone courses or by weaving lessons into existing classes through an interdisciplinary approach. In the current school year, 561 districts enrolled more than 135,000 students in climate-related courses, but this new requirement sets lesson standards for everyone, no matter where you live or which school you attend.
This legislation joins similar policies in California, Connecticut, Illinois, and New Jersey. Across the country, this shift considers what students need to thrive as adults—not just traditional academics, but tools to understand and address the environmental challenges they’ll inherit.
—Carrie Albright
Julianna Dailey
The nonprofit organization Climate Central has stepped in to rescue a critical climate tracking tool that the federal government abandoned earlier this year—a NOAA database that’s been documenting the United States’ costliest weather disasters for over four decades.
During just the first six months of 2025, there have been 14 separate weather and climate disasters in the U.S., costing over $101 billion, with the Los Angeles wildfires in January becoming the costliest wildfire event on record at over $60 billion. The average number of these extreme events has surged from about three annually during the 1980s to 19 events per year over the last decade making data collection essential in order to inform preparedness and response plans. Senior climate scientist Adam Smith, who led the project under NOAA for 15 years, will now maintain the database at Climate Central.
This database serves as a tool that communities, researchers, and even insurance companies use to understand escalating climate risks and build resilience. In a time when extreme weather is becoming our new normal, having reliable data to inform our decisions has never been more critical.
—Carrie Albright
Preston Rogers
And now, lets listen to Carrie Albright as she speaks with Gillian Field, Urban Green Space Outreach Coordinator for the City of Bloomington.
Short’s Goldenrod
Julianna Dailey
Are you looking for a way to make a difference on environmental issues?
Here at EcoReport we are currently looking for reporters, engineers, and segment producers. Our goal is 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 an assortment of 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. W-F-H-B also offers internships. To volunteer for Eco-Report, give us a call at (812) 323-1200, or e-mail us at: Earth at W-F-H-B dot O-R-G.
Preston Rogers
And now for some upcoming events:
A Cold Blooded Buffet will take place at McCormick’s Creek State Park on Sunday, November 8th, from 2 to 2:30 pm. Meet in the Nature Center to learn about Indiana’s reptiles and how they survive.
Julianna Dailey
Learn about Stick Bugs at McCormick’s Creek State Park on Sunday, November 9th, from 3 to 4 pm. You don’t always notice them because they look like a stick. Meet in the Nature Center Exhibit Hall to see stick bugs.
26:56/ 27:11 (00:15)
Preston Rogers
Come to learn about the Wild Turkey at McComick’s Creek State Park on Friday, November 14th, at 2 pm in the Nature Center. Ben Franklin believed the wild turkey should have been our symbolic national bird. Make a Wild Turkey sun catcher.
Julianna Dailey
The Devil’s Backbone hikes have started again. These hikes are offered only from November through February. It’s a 3-mile rugged hike at Charlestown State Park from 1 to 3 pm on Friday, November 14th. It’s a fabulous hike, full of adventure. Register at [email protected].
Preston Rogers
An Identitree hike is scheduled for Sunday, November 16th, from 3 to 3:30 pm at McCormick’s Creek State Park. Join the naturalist at the Nature Center to hike to Echo Canyon to learn how to identify trees.
Julianna Dailey
And that wraps up our show for this week. EcoReport is brought to you in part by M-P-I Solar, a Bloomington business specializing in solar hot water, solar electricity and solar hot air systems. M-P-I Solar designs and installs solar power generation systems that encourage independence and individual responsibility. Found locally at 812-334-4003 and on the Web at M-P-I solar energy dot com.
Preston Rogers
This week’s headlines were written by Carrie Albright
Today’s news feature was produced by Carrie Albright
Julianna Dailey assembled the script which was edited by the EcoReport team and produced the upcoming events.
Rich Benak is our engineer.
Julianna Dailey
For W-F-H-B, I’m Julianna Dailey.
Preston Rogers
And I am Preston Rogers
Julianna Dailey
And this is EcoReport. Thank you for listening, and please continue to take care of our Earth.
