The Indiana Senate passed a bill Monday that would define natural gas and propane as clean energy sources. Senate Bill 178 now moves to the House for consideration.

Its author, Sen. Jim Buck (R-Kokomo), said he got the idea from an Ohio law that passed three years ago.

“It puts Indiana out there for any of the federal programs or grants that may be available to Indiana for the utilization of ‘green’ where we can use our own natural gas and propane," he said.

But environmental groups say that's unlikely — because most federal grant programs don’t consider natural gas and propane as clean energy sources. More importantly, they say those energy sources shouldn’t be considered green.

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Shannon Anderson with Earth Charter Indiana said the U.S. Department of Energy and several Indiana electric utilities define “clean energy” as sources that produce little to no greenhouse gas emissions — like solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and nuclear.

“So you’ll notice that nowhere on this list do you hear the words 'natural gas' or 'propane,'" she said.

While natural gas produces fewer carbon emissions that coal, it also produces methane — a greenhouse gas 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Ohio passed similar legislation in 2022 in an attempt to help companies meet ESG standards. Those are policies that consider the environmental or social impacts of their investments.

Rebecca is our energy and environment reporter. Contact her at rthiele@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.