CARTER: Community enthusiasm palpable with eco causes
Indianapolis is beginning to focus on environment, livability.
Environment
Articles
Greencastle plant key in Ford’s environmental movement
Supplier to begin producing door part made from kenaf, a plant similar to bamboo but related to cotton.
Alternative fuels gaining popularity
While some trucking firms are busily updating old trucks, others are delving into alternative fuels, which will help lower emissions.
Trucking firms shunning costly clean-burning engines
Trucking fleets, already buckling under higher costs for insurance and fuel, are finding ways around new rules that nearly eliminate nitrogen oxides and particulate matter but also sent prices of new trucks soaring.
Abound Solar halts production, cuts 180 jobs
A Colorado-based solar module maker that hoped to create up to 1,200 jobs in Indiana by next year said Tuesday that it was laying off about 180 workers in Colorado as the company focuses on a more efficient product.
Ball State begins final phase of ambitious geothermal project
Eventually, the system will heat and cool 5.5 million square feet of buildings and save $2 million a year in operating costs.
Airport spending millions to protect rare bats
The Indianapolis Airport Authority board has approved a $504,872, two-year contract with Indiana State University to study the federally endangered Myotis sodalis, which brings to $2.5 million what the airport has paid ISU since 2004 to track and observe the minuscule mammals.
CityWay designed to integrate retail, housing, hotel, YMCA
Architects were told to push the envelope and integrate. Be mindful of where you are in the city and integrate well.
Lawmakers back penalties over farm lawsuits
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-3 Wednesday in favor of the bill that would give judges discretion on whether to order the person filing a frivolous lawsuit to pay the farm’s court costs and attorney fees.
Warmer-than-usual winter could ruin state’s fruit crops
Early warm temperatures could be bad news for the state's profitable blueberry and apple crops, which bring in more than $13 million each year. It could also hurt Indiana's growing wine-grape industry.
Columbus manufacturer to begin solar panel production
Nusun Solar says an endorsement by Underwriter’s Laboratories should lead to mass production of its commercial and residential panels.
IDEM: I-69 construction affecting streams
The Indiana Department of Transportation and a contractor on the Interstate 69 project downstate have been cited for more than a dozen deficiencies in preventing erosion and the flow of sediment into streams.
U.S. farm income could drop 6.5 percent in 2012
The biggest crop acreage in a generation and increasing costs for fuel, pesticides and feed will trim the record profits seen in 2011 to $91.7 billion, according to the USDA.
State Fair Commission breaks ground on ‘Glass Barn’
The $2.9 million building on the 250-acre fairgrounds campus will feature interactive exhibits focusing on new technologies used on modern farms.
Indianapolis Parks Foundation leader plans retirement
The Indianapolis Parks Foundation will start looking this week for a replacement for President Cindy Porteous, who plans to retire after 12 years at the not-for-profit.
Farmers plan biggest crops since 1984, led by corn
U.S. farmers will plant the most acres in a generation this year, led by the biggest corn crop since World War II, taking advantage of the highest agricultural prices in at least four decades.
Indiana moving slowly on lake phosphorus rules
A state effort to address phosphorous pollution that has fouled Indiana's waterways is moving forward slowly, but environmental groups' hopes for help from lawmakers is likely to be dashed this year.
Bill could put squeeze on recycling programs statewide
Waste management districts would need county OK to levy property taxes to fund their programs.
State power rates could increase 14 percent under new rules
An analysis prepared for the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission predicts new federal clean air regulations will raise electricity rates in the state by about 14 percent by 2020 because of necessary upgrades to coal-fired power plants.
Poet LLC putting plan for ethanol pipeline on hold
The nation's largest ethanol company announced Friday that it is putting on hold its plan to build a dedicated 1,800-mile ethanol pipeline because of the lack of prospects for a federal loan guarantee.