Smokestack

The University of Louisville’s energy-saving efforts are going even better than expected.

U of L is in the middle of a long-term project to cut the university’s energy consumption and carbon footprint. The effort was launched in 2009, and since then, workers have been updating lighting, heating and cooling systems, and reducing water consumption.

Now, the university is reporting that a progress report shows significant savings already. From U of L:

An environmental group in Indiana is concerned about pending legislation and executive orders it says could reduce the state’s ability to protect the environment and public health.

Jesse Kharbanda is the executive director of the Hoosier Environmental Council.

During the month of January, WFPL aired nine features on the issues posed in regulating toxic air emissions in Rubbertown—and the past, present and potential health concerns of residents. Here's a collection of those stories.

Louisville's Air Program Marks Successes, But Health Concerns Linger

A federal appeals court has rejected a request from the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its August decision to vacate a major air pollution rule.

The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is designed to reduce the amount of pollution that blows across state lines. It places limits on the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides produced in 28 states, including Kentucky.

Eboni Cochran says there’s a lot to like about her neighborhood in Louisville’s West End.

“You make a right and you will hit lots of green space, beautiful parkway with beautiful tall trees, with nice houses,” she says.

Cochran is a leader with a volunteer group called REACT: Rubbertown Emergency ACTion.

"But then to the left, you are going to run into lots of railroad tracks, you’re going to see railcars that are parked behind trees throughout your little route. And on the right you’re going to start seeing the beginnings of Rubbertown, chemical plants.”

And there’s the ‘but.’ Pretty much everyone I spoke with for this series—from Park DuValle to Riverside Gardens—said they like living where they live. But the health and safety problems—past, present and potential—seriously affect their quality of life.

So, what’s the answer? Do you kick out the industry? Move the people? Or find some middle ground where everyone can coexist? And for people who have spent their lives worried about toxic emissions from Rubbertown, is it even possible to coexist?

A researcher at the University of Illinois has found a new way to possibly stop the spread of Asian carp throughout the country's waterways: carbon dioxide.

Here's the story from the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences:

Chalk air pollution regulators up as the latest group to splinter because of increasingly divisive partisanship in Washington, D.C. Regulators from 17 states—including Kentucky and Indiana—are forming a new association to assist states with air pollution policies.

Right now, 43 states are members of a group called the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, or NACAA. The group has been around for 32 years, and is a non-partisan member organization that represents state and local air regulators.

Start your car. See that puff from the tailpipe in your rearview mirror? Benzene, butadiene, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide.