Kokomo Tribune (TNS)
When the Indiana Department of Environmental Management completed the Priority Climate Action Plan in March, hopes were high among those focused on combating climate change across the state.
The plan, which called for a major expansion of renewable energy generation and targeted efforts to put more electric vehicles on Hoosier roads, had IDEM officials hopeful Indiana would receive a part of the $4.3 billion being doled out by the Environmental Protection Agency via the Inflation Reduction Act’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program.
Those hopes were quashed in late July, however, when the EPA, which reviewed nearly 300 applications seeking funding from state and local governments across the U.S., announced that Indiana’s grant request seeking over $195 million to implement the plan had been denied. The state was one of only 10 that did not receive a portion of the EPA funding.
There were 25 applications chosen, which will impact 30 states in their efforts to battle climate change, improve air quality and advance environmental justice. The effects the missed opportunity will have on the state are immeasurable, according to those who fight for Indiana’s environment.
Sam Carpenter, executive director of the Hoosier Environmental Council, described the funding as “absolutely critical,” and the denial left officials with concerns about how the state would pay for its projects.
Indiana’s first comprehensive plan to battle climate change included projects and policies that would cut greenhouse-gas emissions by nearly 3 million metric tons by 2050.
Areas selected to receive funding from the EPA include Austin, Texas, where officials said they would focus on expanding transportation services with the construction of multimodal transit networks. In New Haven, Connecticut, officials plan to build a geothermal system at Union Station to provide heating and cooling to both the station and nearby mixed-income housing.
New Orleans officials also plan to focus on expanding transportation, upgrading municipal buildings and planting trees to reduce heat there.
Those are pretty ambitious projects; plans that offered the EPA what they were looking for in the PCAPS — the most bang for their buck.
Now, sources of funding for Indiana’s projects are unclear. And the state’s Republican supermajority at the Statehouse doesn’t appear too eager to allocate funds, noted Carpenter.
He expressed concern that Indiana’s plan wasn’t aggressive enough to put the state in position for the federal aid. For example, he said, further measures that cut emissions beyond 3 million tons would have been more ambitious. On average, he added, the 25 projects approved by the EPA will reduce greenhouse gases by 38.8 million tons each.
Historically, state lawmakers have not budgeted tax dollars for climate action, and the Senate Environmental Affairs Committee has twice refused to consider legislation to create a climate solutions task force. Nearly all funding for climate action in the state has come from federal funds.
Sean Mobley, senior policy associate at The Nature Conservancy of Indiana, said it’s critical that lawmakers work to provide support for environmental policies and measures in the future.
Indiana is clearly lagging behind when it comes to climate action. It’s time for more aggressive plans and for state officials to step up.
