Why Indiana needs a Climate Solutions Task Force
On Monday February 20, 2023 the Environmental Affairs Committee heard SB 335 - The Climate Solutions Task Force bill. Unfortunately, the committee chair chose not to bring the bill to a vote that day. Below is the testimony that Earth Charter Indiana submitted in support of the bill.
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It is our honor and privilege to support SB335 and the students who have worked with the authors to create this bill. As an organization who engages young people across Indiana who are determined to take systemic action on the climate crisis, this proposed task force could not be more significant to us.
Indiana kids are anxious. They look to us wanting to see change and we provide support to them to turn their hopes into solutions. At the local level, students have been able to pass climate-focused resolutions in over 10 cities in Indiana, so we lead the US in youth-led municipal climate resolutions. They have worked with city councilors and Mayors to put their hometowns on a path to sustainability. And now they want to know what their state will do to answer this simple question:
What will Indiana do about climate change? The answer cannot be silence.
What SB335 does is simple, practical, and precise. It allows for a task force of key legislators and experts to convene and discuss seven areas where we could make significant progress: lower emissions, prepare for the future, and save money. With voluntary and incentive-led programs in these seven areas, we could bring so many more into this important work. We could help out struggling small businesses, low-income families, farms, restore ecosystems, and improve Hoosier health. There are many examples of programs that have delivered significant results, across the country, but also right here in Indiana, that we can learn from.
We can show what Hoosier leadership on climate looks like.
Lastly, this task force is not a moment too soon. Strategic federal climate funding as well as national economic shifts could pass us by if we wait to have this discussion another year. Indiana could lose these opportunities to other states. That would be devastating for our kids who not only want to build their careers here, but will live to see the worst of climate impacts. Nearly a third of young people (18-29) named climate change as a top 3 issue. Globally, 2 in 5 young people are rethinking becoming parents someday because of climate change.
The Earth Charter, our foundational document, created in 2001, starts with the words:
“We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny.”
It is time for Indiana to choose to move forward. Please vote yes on SB 335.
Shannon Anderson, Director of Advocacy, Earth Charter Indiana
Jim Poyser, Director of Advancement
Tatjana Rebelle, Director of Equitable Initiatives