Read or download the 2016 & 2017 Environmental Annual Report, written by the Monroe County Environmental Commission.
This report details:
We appreciate your feedback. Let us know in the comments what can be improved in Monroe County to preserve our natural resources and improve quality of life.
At the end of June, GE announced it was shrinking to grow. Spinning off much of its other units it will retain three key manufacturing industries: engines, solar, and wind.
GE’s focus on solar and wind is important as it shows these areas as what GE believes to be growth sectors.
The Monroe County Environmental Commission holds the same view. Our latest data show consistent savings to taxpayers when investments are made in solar on County buildings.
Over the past two years, environmental improvements at Monroe County buildings have saved taxpayers $80,000.
These improvements were outlined in a presentation to the Monroe County Commissioners this morning. You can watch this brief presentation on CATS. A pdf of the longer report will appear on this blog.
The lines snaked up and down Curry Pike today with people waiting almost an hour to recycle electronic materials.
Once at the front, tall rows of electronics grew larger as new materials were unloaded from waiting cars.
Cook Group sponsored the event at the old GE site which Cook purchased recently. Cook Group has been posting pictures on Facebook.
This is one more example of how important environmental protection is in Monroe County. It would have been so easy to throw away all these old Tvs and electronics, but the hundreds of cars that came through chose to wait in line to recycle!
This Saturday, come hear Joe Peden speak. Check out this video of Joe Peden; chances are you have been on the farm he and his wife run in Monroe County.
He and the rest of Monroe County celebrate the 75th Annual Meeting of the Soil and Water Conservation District. Among other things they help make cover crops affordable for area farmers and keep septic systems running.
The event is Saturday, February 24 from 9am to 12:30 at St Paul United Methodist Church on West 3rd St. Tickets are only $10 and can be found on Eventbrite.
At this event you can also learn about hoop houses, small plot invasive species, stormwater systems, and pasture management.
Does the current administration have you scratching your head, wondering why the sudden disbelief in science and facts? Well you aren’t alone!
Dori Chandler is with the Union of Concerned Scientists and will give a workshop called “Effective Communication with Legislators: How to be a Lobbyist for Science.” The talk is Thursday, February 22, 12:30 – 2:00 PM in Room S201 (Patten Room) of the Indiana University Geology Building (1001 E. 10th St.). Free lunch provided! This event is free and open to the public.
This workshop will be followed with an opportunity later in the month to go talk to state legislators.
This workshop is brought to you by the newly formed and very active Concerned Scientists at Indiana University.
I didn’t know either until last night’s Monroe County Environmental Commission meeting, and it further came into focus with the front page article in today’s Herald Times.
Gnarley Tree is a new company in Bloomington which has already racked up an impressive list of clients including the World Bank.
They just picked up a new client: the City of Bloomington. You can hear more about what Gnarley Tree and COB are planning Wednesday February 01 from 4-6pm in City Hall Council Chambers in the Showers Building. I hope you can make it!
A bright light of mass transit in Indiana arrived as January came to a close. The Indiana House lifted the ban on light rail in the counties in and around Indianapolis. The IBJ article covering this is here.
We’ll see what the Senate and eventually the Governor will do…
It is worth noting that China is heavily investing in light rail as a solution to growing cities. They are also using exciting technology. See an intersting article here. The reason this is worth noting is that the House is reacting to a major employer considering Indiana. If we don’t start improving our mass transit systems to catch up to Chinese and other country’s investments, we will find it very difficult to attract an increasingly urban workforce.
It would also benefit our great state and our ability to attract and retain an educated workforce by investing in regional mass transit.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy came to Bloomington last night. Read her (bio), and follow her on Twitter (@ginaepa).
She offered three reasons to be optimistic despite a Trump Administration’s proposed 31% cut to the EPA budget.
The EPAs Janet McCabe was also in the audience. The Monroe County Environmental Commission brought her to Bloomington in 2016 for a talk on the Clean Power Plan.
Monroe County 