Submitted
Last week, Senator Ron Alting (R-Lafayette) filed Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 and Senate Bill 255, the climate legislation being championed by the statewide youth organization, Confront the Climate Crisis.
SCR 3 and SB 255 have been co-authored by Senator Mike Bohacek (R-8). In the coming days, more Republican and Democrat co-authors will be added in support of the legislation. SCR 3 and SB 255 have also been endorsed by a broad coalition of 80 organizations and public officials. The coalition includes organizations such as: Indiana High School Republicans, Indiana High School Democrats, United Auto Workers Region 2B Indiana, Indiana State AFL-CIO, Hoosier Environmental Council, and League of Women Voters of Indiana.
This willingness to begin conversations about climate across party lines is what Confront the Climate Crisis was founded on and what they continue to fight for with this legislation. A full list of supporters of this legislation can be found below.
Confront the Climate Crisis is a high school student-led statewide campaign which seeks to engage Hoosiers and Indiana policymakers in climate action. The campaign is composed of over 150 Hoosier high school student volunteers with over 18,000 signatures on their petition to “demand that our politicians at the statehouse identify the climate crisis as a crisis and declare a climate emergency, that state legislation is passed to set a goal for statewide carbon neutrality, and that legislation that works to eliminate environmental racism and the unequal effects of the climate crisis in primarily minority communities in Indiana.”
In September 2021, Confront the Climate Crisis held a climate strike in West Lafayette and announced two pieces of climate legislation in partnership with Republican State Sen. Ron Alting, the sponsor of the legislation.
Rahul Durai, a sophomore at West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School, explained why the campaign’s legislation is an integral piece of Indiana’s future.
“It’s time for the state of Indiana to start a conversation about climate change and systematically implement policies to deal with it,” Durai said. “By bringing our grassroots movement of Hoosiers to the Statehouse to pass this legislation, we will achieve that.”
Organizers with Confront the Climate Crisis say they are confident that their two pieces of legislation, the bill and concurrent resolution, will be the first step towards Indiana addressing the concerns young people have been expressing for years.
The first piece of legislation will be a concurrent resolution to acknowledge the problem of unprecedented climate change. It will give scientific background about the climate crisis and other environmental injustices in Indiana. It will also address the economic development that Indiana can achieve through climate action.
Sen. Alting’s second piece of legislation will be a bill that would create a Climate and Environmental Justice Task Force by May 2022. The purpose of this task force would be to bring a diverse set of stakeholders to the table to create a climate action plan for Indiana. This task force would include legislators, researchers, experts in energy policy, an expert in environmental justice issues, a representative of Indiana’s labor unions, a representative of Indiana’s business community, a representative of Indiana’s farmers, and a youth climate activist. The task force would be required to submit a report of climate policy recommendations to the Indiana General Assembly by November 2022.
In an effort to build further momentum and support around the legislation and raise further awareness about climate change, Confront the Climate Crisis will be holding a rally from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 18 at the Indiana Statehouse. Register at confronttheclimatecrisis.com/event-details/2022-times-up.
Organizations and Public Officials in Support of SCR 3 and SB 255:
- Alexandria Tree Huggers
- Audubon Great Lakes
- Carmel Green Initiative
- Carmel High School Democrats
- Carmel High School Green Action Club
- Carmel Pride
- Citizens Action Coalition
- Citizens’ Climate Lobby Evansville Chapter
- Citizens’ Climate Lobby South Central Indiana Chapter
- Citizens’ Climate Lobby Indiana
- Citizens’ Climate Lobby Lafayette Chapter
- Citizens’ Climate Lobby Purdue University Chapter
- Earth Charter Indiana
- Elders Climate Action
- Environmental Club of Columbus Signature Academy New Tech
- Evansville Audubon Society
- Evansville Youth City Council
- Friends of Lake Monroe
- Greater Lafayette League of Women Voters
- Hoosier Action
- Hoosier Environmental Council
- Hoosier Interfaith Power & Light
- Indiana Beyond Coal
- Indiana Climate Coalition
- Indiana Forest Alliance
- Indiana Friends Committee on Legislation
- Indiana High School Democrats
- Indiana High School Republicans
- Indiana State AFL-CIO
- Just Transition Northwest Indiana
- League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County
- League of Women Voters of Brown County
- League of Women Voters of Fort Wayne, Indiana
- League of Women Voters of Indiana
- League of Women Voters of Indianapolis
- League of Women Voters of LaPorte County
- League of Women Voters of Montgomery County
- League of Women Voters of Muncie-Delaware County
- League of Women Voters of Southwestern Indiana
- League of Women Voters of the Calumet Area
- Midwest Hemp Council
- Northwest Indiana Green Drinks
- Northwest Indiana Youth Climate Council
- Peace Learning Center
- Prairie Winds Nature Farm, Inc.
- Purdue Student Sustainability Council
- RecycleForce
- Sandbox Student Productions
- Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter
- Sisters of St. Benedict of Beech Grove, Indiana
- Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand, Indiana
- Solarize Indiana, Inc.
- Solar United Neighbors of Indiana
- Southport High School Green Earth Society
- Southwestern Indiana Citizens for Quality of Life
- Sycamore Audubon Society
- Terre Haute EARTHlings
- Tippecanoe County Climate Alliance
- Tri-State Creation Care
- Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington’s Green Sanctuary Task Force
- United Auto Workers Region 2B Indiana
- Westfield Green Together
- West Lafayette Climate
- West Lafayette Go Greener Commission
- West Lafayette High School Eco Club
- West Lafayette Students for Climate Action
- Yellowwood Youth
- Representative Carey Hamilton (D-87)
- Representative Chris Campbell (D-26)
- Representative Mike Aylesworth (R-11)
- Senator Mike Bohacek (R-8)
- Senator Ron Alting (R-22)
- City Councilor David Sanders of West Lafayette
- City Councilor Gerald Thomas of West Lafayette
- City Councilor Kathy Parker of West Lafayette
- City Councilor Miles Nelson of Carmel
- City Councilor Peter Bunder of West Lafayette
- County Councilor Lisa Dullum of Tippecanoe County
- Mayor John Dennis of West Lafayette
- Mayor Tony Roswarski of Lafayette