Hoosier Environmental Council - Indiana Ranked 49th in "Green" by Forbes.com

By Clarke Kahlo

Many local economists and development officials, including Indiana economist Morton Marcus and Graham Toft (former chief of the Indiana Economic Development Council), remind us of the critical importance of a high quality environment as an integral element of economic vitality.  This recognition is founded largely on the principles of sustainable/ecological economics advanced by many prominent economists including Alfred Marshall, Herman Daly, Robert Costanza, and Paul Hawken.

However, in Indiana’s halls of power, these principles are frequently set aside under the imperative of growing the economy with little apparent regard to the adverse impacts on air and water quality and other parameters on their decision.  We’re again painfully reminded of this by the recent Forbes.com ranking for Indiana—49th of the states in greenness.  At the same time, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce rates Indiana’s government as a relatively high achiever in creating a favorable regulatory climate (a B+ for 2006, which is significantly better than the grades achieved by our neighboring states).  Somewhere there is a disconnect between where we are and what needs to be done to begin to see progress.

If our Indiana Department of Environmental Management would confront the real environmental issues our state faces, our citizens would have more basis for optimism.  However, as Morton Marcus recently noted, IDEM is charged with “managing” versus “protecting” our state’s environment.  For instance, it actively seeks to expedite permit approvals for applicants and to minimize pollution reduction requirements on industrial sources.  We’ve seen this recently with highly controversial permit renewals in northwest Indiana -- BP and U. S. Steel.

Our public policy-makers apparently will not address the need until they hear constituents and voters demanding a turn around of our environmental condition.

It’s not helping Indiana’s international image to be in the proverbial cellar for quality of life.  Residents here don’t find it appealing either.   We can and must do better.

Clarke Kahlo
Hoosier Environmental Council

Technorati Tags: State Alfred Marshall Clarke Kahlo Environment Government Graham Toft Herman Daly Hoosier Environmental Council - HEC Indiana Department of Environmental Management - IDEM Indianapolis Marion County Morton Marcus Opinion Paul Hawken Robert Costanza

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