Trump repeals landmark EPA climate endangerment finding
President Trump’s repeal of the endangerment finding eliminates the legal basis for regulations that target air pollution from greenhouse gases.
Indianapolis and the surrounding metropolitan area failed a number of critical air pollution measures in the American Lung Association’s latest State of the Air report.
The ALA’s annual nationwide report published each spring gives the Indianapolis-Carmel-Muncie metro area an “F” in smog and soot pollution. The report analyzes emissions data over a three-year period from 2022 to 2024.
Smog is ground-level ozone pollution and soot is particulate matter. The two comprise two of the six commonly found air pollutants in the United States according to the EPA.
Both pollutants form in part when coal-fired power plants and diesel engines burn fossil fuels. Smog and soot can cause premature death and other serious health hazards such as heart attacks, strokes, preterm births, asthma and cognitive decline, according to the ALA.
The lung health report ranks the central Indiana metro area in a number of categories with the region performing poorly in most. Indianapolis-Carmel-Muncie ranked the 11th most polluted area for year-round particle pollution and 14th for short-term particle pollution.
Indiana children at risk from air pollution
And the rest of the state fares little better.
More than 670,000 Hoosier children breath unhealthy levels of air pollution, the report says.
This year’s report focus on the risk to youth that polluted air can pose. Small lungs are particularly vulnerable, said Tiffany Nichols, ALA director of advocacy.
“Infants, children and teens have lungs that are still developing, which makes them more susceptible to the impacts of unhealthy air,” Nichols said.
To prevent today’s youth from developing diseases related to polluted air, the American Lung Association has been asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to stop rolling back clean air rules put in place by previous administrations. The Indiana chapter has also asked state lawmakers to take steps to protect air quality.
Nichols grew up on the northwest side of Indy where the neighborhoods had been demolished to build I-65. Nearby trees were torn down to make way for the highway that would bring cars and trucks emitting harmful exhaust.
“So, then you have these areas that are essentially like a pocket of unhealthy air, and then those neighborhoods also had a lot of factories,” Nichols said. “That exacerbated health conditions in many of those communities that are oftentimes less fortunate already.”
Data centers and rollbacks
While air pollutants have existed for centuries, the rise of data centers poses a new threat. State and local lawmakers, Nichols said, should also pay attention to these new potential sources of pollution both in Indiana and across the country.
“We’re asking that those companies that are interested in putting data centers in communities work with the local community,” Nichols said. “Since data centers have the potential to be another source of pollution we also ask that they use renewable, zero-ignition energy sources.”
The ALA report also urges the U.S. EPA to recommit to protecting people’s health from harmful air pollution.
This year, the EPA has gone on what Administrator Lee Zeldin has characterized as a deregulation campaign that environmental advocates in Indiana have charged will lead to “death by 1,000 cuts.”
The current EPA, the American Lung Association report says, has “retreated from its public health foundation by rolling back clean air protections.”
Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @karlstartswithk or BlueSky @karlstartswithk.bsky.social.
IndyStar’s environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
