The Indiana Department of Environmental Management released a climate action plan in March 2024 with the help of a $3 million grant from the Biden administration. But in April of this year, Gov. Mike Braun killed it.

He ordered IDEM to stop developing climate actions under federal programs without his or the state legislature’s consent. His executive order stated these were one-size-fits-all policies that result in “worse economic and environmental outcomes for Hoosiers.”

Braun’s order was shocking. As a U.S. senator, he was a founder of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, whose members work to address the risks of climate change. The order is even more baffling considering the state’s recent rankings for air and water quality and the public’s overwhelming support for climate initiatives, made clear in a recently released IDEM report.

After Braun’s order, IDEM undertook a comprehensive review of its regulations and asked for input from the public and businesses affected by its rules. Released Monday, the 1,444-page document was informed by more than 1,500 stakeholders who provided more than 10,000 comments.

“I’ve gotten through about 400 of the pages,” David Van Gilder, senior policy and legal director of the Hoosier Environmental Council, said Tuesday. “But, so far, the score is above 90% in favor of our current regulations or in strengthening them. It’s overwhelmingly in favor of protecting the environment and people, and not the other way around.”

Hoosiers have good reasons for concern.

Last year, IDEM surveyed 33,643 miles of the state’s 62,746 miles of rivers, streams and drainage ways. It found 24,687 miles – 73.4% of those surveyed – to be unhealthy for recreation and swimming. The results coincide with an Environmental Integrity Project report from March 2022 that said Indiana had the most miles of polluted waterways among the states.

Furthermore, Indiana is considered to have some of the worst air quality in the U.S. The American Lung Association ranks Indianapolis and Fort Wayne the 21st and 58th worst, respectively, among metropolitan areas for particulate pollution.

“Even if you don’t care about people being killed in floods, or how much energy we use to keep ourselves cool and warm, it just doesn’t make any long-term government-policy sense to ignore climate change,” Van Gilder said. “It’s here. It’s an established fact. It isn’t going to go away because we ignore it or we don’t plan for it.”

Now that our federal and state governments aren’t leading climate efforts, addressing such issues falls to local governments. And Fort Wayne could be a model for what other communities can do to improve their environments.

City Utilities installed an array of more than 12,000 floating solar panels on the Water Pollution Control Plant’s wet-weather storage pond, creating a microgrid to supply the pollution control plant, Three Rivers Filtration Plan and Wet-Weather Pump Station when power outages occur.

Combined with the department’s ability to convert food waste into methane gas, and two methane-powered generators, the microgrid will help protect its future budgets and, by extension, its customers’ pocketbooks. Deputy Director of Engineering Matthew Wirtz estimates City Utilities will save about $100,000 annually, and between $8 million and $10 million over the next 20 years.

Furthermore, the city has installed 37 vehicle charging stations, each costing $22,000, at 18 locations including the Allen County Public Library, Citizens Square, Indiana Tech, Foster Park and all three Meijer’s stores.

Simpler, proven solutions for improving the environment exist for communities to replicate.

We can reduce air pollution by promoting public transportation; transitioning to electric and hybrid vehicles; utilizing scrubbers, filters and catalytic converters to reduce industrial emissions; switching to renewable energy sources; and promoting energy efficiency in homes and businesses.

We also can cut pollution in our waterways by employing sustainable agricultural practices such as cover crops, keeping motor oil and household chemicals out of storm drains and sewer systems, and using wastewater treatment plants to remove contaminants from sewage and industrial wastewater before it’s discharged into waterways.

Local governments and businesses can use Indiana’s climate action plan to help with their climate efforts, but its cancellation is a missed opportunity for the state to make real progress in improving the environment, which Hoosiers overwhelmingly support. Instead, it will return $1.5 million of the unused grant money to the Environmental Protection Agency.

That’s not just a shame; for a state that is increasingly becoming more polluted, it’s a dereliction.