State displays 'green' progress

In 2007, Forbes Magazine ranked Indiana 49th on its list of “America’s greenest states.” West Virginia was the only state ranked lower than the Hoosier State.

According the Forbes article, Indiana, along with Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and West Virginia “all suffer from a mix of toxic waste, lots of pollution and consumption and no clear plans to do anything about it. Expect them to remain that way.”

But state officials now say that perception of Indiana is inaccurate.

Keith Baugues, assistant commissioner of the office of air quality at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and Amy Hartsock, public information officer at IDEM, said the Forbes ranking considered statistics other than the numbers used by state agencies and Environmental Protection Agency evaluations.

“What we want to point out is that aesthetics have nothing to do with what a state is doing to protect the environment,” Hartsock said.

Baugues said IDEM uses EPA data to draw its own conclusions about how Indiana compares to other states. Based on this, Indiana is better than the national standards in almost all areas.

Baugues and Hartsock said in recent years IDEM has been cracking down on air and water pollution permits for companies. These permits come with a set of strict
requirements.

They also said the state has been working to stop the use of combined sewers, which feed waste water and rain water to the same output without sanitizing the waste water first.

While the state agencies in Indianapolis focus on meeting EPA regulations, the City of Bloomington’s focus has been promoting sustainability, Bloomington Sustainability Coordinator Jacqui Bauer said.

Bauer said Bloomington is one of the few cities in Indiana to have a green building ordinance, which sets environmental standards for city-owned buildings.

“We’re trying to get a handle on where our greatest usage of energy is and where we can improve,” she said.

Bauer also said Bloomington is in a position to be an environmental leader because the community cares about sustainability initiatives.

“There’s just a huge level of interest in this community in sustainability,” she said. “People really understand the appeal of local food.”

Bloomington is starting to consolidate housing in the downtown area near local businesses that promote sustainable business, as well, Bauer said.

She said the state will begin to be seen as an environmental leader when cities start to put more focus on sustainability.

“Cities are in a really great position to be models of what sustainability can look like,” she said. “I think a lot of cities are getting it.”