A crucial next step that could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Gary is underway.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management applied for an Environmental Protection Agency implementation grant this week. IDEM submitted its Priority Climate Action Plan, a proposal that included projects with greenhouse gas reduction measures and input from community surveys and Hoosiers across the state.
Indiana, alongside other states, is competing for a portion of the EPA’s $4.6 billion fund to help reduce climate pollution and start clean energy initiatives.
IDEM’s first public meeting in Gary was held in February at the Gary Public Library to get community feedback for the grant. Residents in Gary and Lake County favored solar power in lieu of coal energy as one of the ways to tackle climate pollution, according to the plan.
Paula Brooks, director of environmental justice for the Hoosier Environmental Council, said the Priority Climate Action Plan is a positive initiative that moves the needle for Indiana, but there is still room for improvement.
“This is a huge step for Indiana, and the fact that [Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb] and IDEM decided to apply for money for climate planning, I think that that should be lauded.” Brooks said. “That being said, I was hoping that there would be more environmental justice principles incorporated into the plan. But this is a state that does not like to dwell on race at all.”
Environmental measures to reduce the decades’ worth of air pollution in Gary are pivotal to address the city’s already poor air quality. In 2022, the EPA designated Gary as an environmental justice city after it met eight of the agency’s 10 environmental justice criteria, including issues with ozone, diesel particulate matter, air toxins, respiratory hazards, traffic proximity, lead paint, and proximity to Superfund sites.
“While certain projects in the work plan identify specific communities, such as Gary, the overall goal of the CPRG program is not area-specific but rather to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions,” IDEM spokesperson Barry Sneed told Capital B Gary. “However, communities that have historically been overburdened with greenhouse gas emissions would reasonably be expected to see the greatest benefit from reduction measures.”
Local businesses and organizations were also invited to apply for funding through the CPRG grant. The two proposals from Gary and Lake County were the Gary Public Transportation Commission, to expand public transportation infrastructure, and the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission, to increase tree canopy cover by planting 2,000 trees in Northwest Indiana.
The EPA will ultimately decide which states receive a portion of the $4.6 billion for the implementation grants, and how much.
Brooks said that if Indiana secured the federal funding, how the state allocates the money would indicate its commitment to investing in communities like Gary.
“The population of Black people in this state is so small, you would think that any extra attention is given to a city like Gary that’s been through so much with polluting entities, lead contamination. … You would think there would be agreement on the need to give a lot of extra,” Brooks said. “It’s a rising tide.”
Jennie Rudderham, a board member of Gary Advocates for Responsible Development and an environmental advocate, said she thinks that IDEM should do more to address industry-level emissions that contribute to climate pollution.
“They’re not really proposing to do anything to directly try to reduce emissions from major industries, which is, you know, the largest source of a lot of our greenhouse gasses in our region,” Rudderham said. “They do identify Northwest Indiana as a region of concern largely because of the industry that is here, and yet, they’re not actually proposing they would do anything to reduce industry emissions.”
The EPA plans to announce the awarded proposals this July.
