This legislative session and where we go from here
May 12, 2025
Not giving up on Earth
With the Indiana legislature adjourned for the year, I wanted to take the opportunity to slow down and share some reflections on the impacts to our environment we’ve seen over the last several months. And, at the end of this email, I've listed some meaningful and fun ways you can get involved this year.
The news is challenging. We have seen coordinated efforts to roll back crucial environmental protections and halt our progress in transitioning our energy grid from expensive aging coal plants to affordable clean renewable energy. In House Enrolled Act 1007 and Senate Enrolled Acts 423, 424, and 425 we’ve seen our state leaders chart a path to an unaffordable false solution in small modular nuclear reactors. Coupled with roadblocks being placed in front of planned coal plant retirements in Indiana, the public policy impacts from the last 100+ days are real.
While these public policy and regulatory changes will be with us, for a time at least, the movement to address our climate crisis and protect our environment will remain. In fact when seen through the lens of our success, many of the temporary setbacks we are experiencing can be seen for what they are, a last attempt at rescuing a coal industry that has been steadily in decline for many years.
I shared last November that “I was heartened to read that in the first half of 2024 wind and solar together outproduced coal in the U.S. for the first time (Scientific American)".
Today, we know that wind and solar overtook coal generation in the US for the year (Environment America). I firmly believe that this trend, despite attempts by the current public policy winds, will continue.
One of the reasons I remain hopeful about our future is you. Our community.
This session, our Sierra Club community participated in three coalition lobby days, generated thousands of calls to legislators, and hosted three days of action to connect constituents with their state legislators.
I'm grateful to each and every person who joined and enabled these efforts.
Together, we are laying the foundations for a better future for all of us.
Sierra Club at the Statehouse, 2025. Photo: Robyn Skuya-Boss.
We know our challenges don’t begin or end at the Statehouse.
We have also witnessed executive actions from Governor Braun, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and the president to provide polluters a pass on environmental protections designed to ensure everyone’s right to clean air, clean water, and a livable climate. We’ve seen National Parks Service staff fired and plans being advanced to open our national forests to logging. We’re seeing erosion of the endangered species act at the same time we’re seeing moves to cut life saving health programs like Medicaid.
Should this agenda succeed, we’ll see worsening impacts to public health from increasing pollution. That’s why we are taking action at the federal, state and local level to push back and challenge an agenda that puts profits over people.
While hope can be a limited resource at times like these, it is even more precious and impactful when paired with action. That’s why I’m extending an invitation for you to join our Sierra Club community here in Indiana as we rise up to meet these challenges. Get involved with us and find joy, belonging, and community along the trails.
We have so many ways to get involved this year as we work to explore, enjoy, and protect the planet.
Join us on the trail!We have many outings coming up this spring and summer, many of them free.
Volunteer with us. Opportunities include joining our outings team as we build community outdoors, rising up to protect our forests and waters with our conservation teams, and more!
Join our Seeds of Democracy program! Become a community lobbyist to help educate your public officials on the importance of protecting the only home we’ve ever known here on Earth.
Lora Kemp, volunteer leader, and Colleen Curtin, Outreach Coordinator, pose with Indiana State University's mascot, Sycamore Sam, at the ISU Earth Day Celebration on April 16th 2025.
The trail ahead is long and I know we will make it through the wilderness together.
I look forward to walking it by your side.
Robyn Skuya-Boss Chapter Director Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
Robyn (Chapter Director), Christine (Faith in Place), and Peg and Rosa Lyn (Beyond Coal volunteers ) carpooled from Bloomington to attend Duke Energy's 20 Year Energy Planning meeting in early 2024. Photo: Robyn Skuya-Boss.
