'A battle that's still winnable:' IU conference highlights Indiana's climate progress

Global warming was a hot topic at the conference “America’s Role in the World,” last week at the Hamilton-Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University.

How much global warming can be charged to Indiana, and what are we doing about it? Attendees heard some answers during the session titled “Indiana and the World: Environmentalism Begins at Home.”

The challenge, moderator Bob Zaltsberg reminded the audience, is that Indiana is one of the leading greenhouse gas producers among U.S. states. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports Indiana is the eighth biggest state producer of carbon dioxide by human activity.

By comparison, New York ranks ninth and Illinois seventh. Texas ranks first, producing four times as much carbon dioxide as Indiana.

Zaltsberg, special projects editor of WFIU news, invited a panel of Indiana environmental experts to address the greenhouse gas problem.