Pollutant levels. Federal standards. State regulations. These factors and more are utilized to determine Indiana’s environmental performance. Three people in the know make the case that our air, water and land are "much cleaner than you might realize." BizVoice magazine has the story.

Fear – it’s a powerful motivator.

It can drive people to all kinds of chilling conclusions, especially when the topic is the environment and the role it plays in the well-being of Hoosiers.

Typically, we hear about the terrible things happening all around us – call it the
“sky is falling” mentality – rather than the many improvements that have been made
over the past 30 years.

Sure, Indiana (like all other locales) faces environmental challenges, both in the near future and long term. However, many of them are out of direct control, including:

• The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continually tightening standards
• The unscientific nature of a scientific topic as even experts don’t always know the safe levels for a particular pollutant, many of which are naturally occurring and unable to be destroyed completely
• A variety of unintended consequences from policy and regulatory decisions, including higher utility bills for the public and the financial toll on industry from increased requirements

While those challenges exist, take comfort in knowing just how far the state has come.

“The environment is incredibly much cleaner than it used to be. A lot of our pollutants are down 80%, so we’ve made great progress. Our challenge is convincing people that it’s true,” indicates Thomas Easterly, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).

“The environment is cleaner than any other time in our lifetimes, and it continues to get cleaner.”

For more, read the full article.