Speak up for the environment

By Lynn Jenkins/Times Sentinel columnist

Indiana is the third largest contributor to phosphorous and nitrate pollution in the Mississippi watershed, even though we are the smallest state of the 31 within the watershed.

This statistic comes from the USGS, which monitors the hypoxic area (dead zone) of the Mississippi Basin and from reports from the Natural Resources Defense Council (www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/msriver/msriver.pdf).

Before you blame farmers and agri-business entirely, remember that we homeowners contribute heavily with our zealous dedication to picture perfect green lawns. Excess fertilization (nitrogen and phosphorus) is a major part of the problem.This is one reason the Clean Water Indiana program is one of three priorities for the upcoming Conservation Day at the Statehouse, Tuesday, Jan. 27. “Conservation Day is an opportunity for those who want to make a difference by talking with their legislator,” said Angela Hughes, coordinator of INCA, the Indiana Conservation Alliance. The coalition is a group of more than 30 conservation organizations that want to raise the profile of conservation at the statehouse. The more people who come and talk to their legislators, the greater the impact.

Not-for-profit organizations with varied missions, such as the Indiana Organic Gardeners Association and Hoosier Environmental Council, work hand in hand with diverse groups such as Pheasants Forever and Indiana Recycling Coalition to present a unified voice for the protection and wise use of natural resources to enhance our quality of life.

The “unified voice” is a critical characteristic. By working together rather than individually, INCA can scream instead of whisper for conservation issues, which are often ignored by the state. How do such varied conservation groups determine their objectives for the year? It’s not a simple process and takes a full year of planning by the steering committee of INCA members. That committee, which is open to any conservation group, considers all ideas and chooses three or four, which can be embraced by all INCA members.

This year’s priorities include three conservation goals:

• The Indiana Heritage Trust is often called the license plate program since it does receive the majority of its funds from citizens who purchase the environmental IHT plate for their vehicles. IHT is the state’s only dedicated land acquisition program for conservation purposes.

Since its establishment in 1992, IHT has used its money for projects such as state and local parks, forest lands, fish and wildlife habitats, nature parks, recreation areas and historic sites. By purchasing the environmental license plate, citizens voluntarily donate to the program. These plate purchases have raised more than $26 million. The General Assembly has appropriated slightly less at $24.5 million.

This year the request for IHT from the General Assembly is $4 million. With the tighter economy, there will be more opportunities than usual to purchase significant natural lands. As the Alliance indicates, “The quality of life in Indiana is greatly enhanced in several important ways (from these natural areas), including health, recreation, water quality, and making Indiana more attractive to prospective businesses. To achieve the vision of protecting 100,000 acres by 2016, funding in these difficult times must be maintained.”

Too often in tight budgets, conservation issues are considered non-essential, especially by the present state administration. When the overall quality of life and health issues are considered, environmental issues should not be discarded.

• Clean Water Indiana, mentioned previously, was created to reduce the amount of polluted storm water runoff from both urban and rural areas, and thus enhance the water quality of Indiana’s lakes, rivers, and streams, many of which are polluted with mercury, PCBs and other contaminants ,according to the EPA and the Center for the Earth and Environmental Science (Indianapolis). Visit http://www.indianalivinggreen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task;=view&id;=625&Itemid;=1&ed;=12 for more information.

Public awareness of water quality issues is growing —some say way too slowly as many of our waters still do not meet the standards demanded by the original Clean Water Act (1972), which followed the warnings of Rachel Carson (1962), the disgrace of the Cuyahoga River fire (1969), and finally the establishment of the EPA (1970). The original legislation was to guarantee clean water for drinking and swimming for everyone. Thirty-five years later, we are not there yet.

This year INCA wants to insure that all county Soil and Water Conservation Districts will benefit with a request for $1 million for Clean Water Indiana. With some emphasis on water quality, perhaps Indiana will be able to raise itself from its 49th place ranking of green states by Forbes magazine (2007) which also stated, “We ranked its water quality worse than only four other states.” http://www.forbes.com/2007/10/16/environment-energy-vermont-biz-beltway-cx_bw_mm_1017greenstates.html

• Showing itself to be a turtle state, Indiana will once again attempt to adopt a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES). Such standards are designed to promote an increase in the production of clean, renewable energy including wind, biomass, geothermal and solar. Indiana has substantial clean renewable energy sources both from wind in the northern part of the state, and from switch grass and biomass in central and southern Indiana.

More than half the states have already adopted an RES, and every state around us has done so. Even lagging this far behind, it is questionable how “tough” an RES our timid legislators might be willing to adopt in this state whose leaders continue to espouse dirty coal as the best solution. Illinois and Minnesota have passed standards of 25 percent by 2025. For Indiana, conservationists are hoping to see an RES of just 10 percent by 2018.

Many states that had passed standards previously are already upgrading their goals ,having experienced the economic and environmental benefits of the renewable energy developments. New “green” jobs from construction, manufacturing and operation would result from the new production demands. Individual landowners also reap the benefit of annual payments of $4,000 to $9,000 per wind turbine installed on their property. And a strong RES will help buffer the impact of upcoming tough federal carbon emissions legislation on Indiana’s 96 percent coal-fired economy.

These benefits are in addition to the cleaner air and cleaner water that Hoosiers will enjoy as less dirty coal is burned. The impacts from that will be felt in our health, in the environment and in our quality of life.

Conservation Day begins with registration (pre-registration is requested since a free lunch in included in the day’s events). Information sessions are held to acquaint individuals with the three priorities, as well as clarify the process of talking with your legislator.

A light buffet lunch for registrants and legislators will be set up in the historic and beautiful North Atrium of the Statehouse. Dozens of conservation organizations will have tables to share information about their mission and issues.

“Conservation Day is a chance for anyone who is interested in conservation issues to come to the statehouse and hear about the top legislative issues; then you have the opportunity to talk directly to your legislator about them,” Hughes said. “We make the process less threatening and energizing because there are numerous other citizens there who are doing the same exact thing.”

Hope to hear you speak up for conservation at the statehouse.

Lynn Jenkins is a Zionsville resident and publisher of Indiana Living Green.

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