Solar industry plots cooperative strategy
Imagine seeing the price of gas drop 50 percent, then finding out you couldn’t take advantage because of a law that excluded drivers who lease their vehicles or whose fuel tank is on the wrong side.
Environment
Articles
Energy-conservation legislation easily passes Senate
The bill, authored by Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, would replace the Energizing Indiana program, which the General Assembly canceled last year over the objection of environmental groups.
Farm income heading toward third straight annual decline
The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects 2015 net-cash income from all farm activity at below $100 billion, the lowest since 2010.
State panel backs legalizing fenced-in hunting preserves
Indiana’s four current high-fenced deer-hunting preserves would be the only ones allowed in the state under a bill endorsed by a legislative committee.
House panel backs bill seeking to boost industrial hemp crop
The House agriculture committee unanimously passed the proposal that would specify the exemption of industrial hemp from its illegal cousin marijuana to include the "fiber, seeds, resin, and oil or any other compound," from an industrial hemp plant.
Senate panel delays bill targeting livestock farm limits
Indiana lawmakers on Monday chose to hold off on a bill that would limit local governments' control over large livestock farms and instead replaced it with a proposal for further research.
Senate panel passes energy-efficiency utility bill
The Senate Utilities Committee voted 7-3 Thursday in approving a bill that would reduce state oversight of major utility companies' energy-efficiency programs.
Indiana Senate panel endorses farmland tax relief bill
The Senate Agriculture Committee voted 6-0 on Monday for a bill that would require property assessors to use 2011 soil-quality figures in this year's land-value determinations.
Green BEAN grows to Tennessee market
Expansion to the southeast marks the first move outside the Midwest for the organic-produce and grocery-delivery firm.
Panel postpones action on bill to limit local livestock rules
Senate Bill 249, if passed into law, would ban communities from adopting an ordinance preventing the construction of livestock facilities.
Travel forecast: Warm, windy and wet
The forecast for Indiana on Christmas Eve calls for as much as 2 to 4 inches of snow, which could leave untreated roads and bridges slick.
Company not backing down on quarry near Lafayette
A company is pushing ahead with plans for a limestone quarry along the Wabash River near Lafayette despite a new county ordinance meant to block the project.
Reservoir or riverside trail system: Which is best for Madison County?
Economic development officials are advancing a plan to dam the White River in Anderson and create a seven-mile lake, but environmental groups are pushing the idea of a riverside trail as an alternative with equal promise but less expense and environmental destruction.
Local recycling companies land grants, plan jobs
Indiana is awarding $600,000 to four companies, including two in Marion County, that recycle metals, wood and other materials.
Indiana high court deciding where to hold hog farm fight
The Indiana Supreme Court has been tasked with deciding which county court will hear a lawsuit filed by the Camp Tecumseh youth camp that seeks to stop a farmer from raising more than 9,000 hogs on nearby land.
State’s Christmas tree growers celebrate strong season
After a crippling drought that was felt for several years, local growers are crowing about their first good season in recent memory.
EnerDel regroups after missing job targets
EnerDel Inc. is regrouping under a strategy of targeting niche markets, as Indianapolis and Hancock County officials press executives about the firm’s future and former pledges of local investment and job creation that failed to pan out.
U.S. Supreme Court to review EPA power-plant standards
The U.S. Supreme Court is stepping into a new case about Obama administration environmental rules, agreeing to review a ruling that upholds emission standards for mercury and other hazardous air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants.
Obama administration to propose stricter smog standard
The stricter standards could make it one of the most expensive regulations ever issued, with an estimated $19 billion to $90 billion price tag and double the number of counties in violation.
Refinery co-owned by Calumet to start producing next month
Indianapolis-based Calumet Specialty Products Partners and Bismarck-based MDU Resources Group Inc. are building the $350 million Dakota Prairie Refinery, the first greenfield refinery built in the U.S. since 1976.