Despite overall Republican resistance to the Biden administration’s environmental efforts, Indiana’s two U.S. senators have worked with Democrats to introduce federal legislation seeking to boost the nation’s economy and technology while helping reduce climate change impacts.
Sens. Mike Braun and Todd Young, along with Rep. Trey Hollingsworth, spoke to the Nature Conservancy in Indiana about several bipartisan bills they introduced to Congress that would establish the foundation for a carbon market, increase outreach from land grant universities, and encourage “green hydrogen production” and research technology that would prevent man-made disasters, like climate change.
The senators said opinions on climate change have altered during their time in office, and Hoosiers want to address climate change in an economically viable way.
“When I first began serving in elective office, I heard more skepticism about the origins of climate change, about whether or not it was happening or and so forth. And there's a lot less of that right now,” said Young. “I think most Hoosiers believe that we should have a scientific and economic response to addressing the concerns of climate change. We should act, but we should act in a manner consistent with science and with good economics.”
A recent survey from Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute found a majority of Hoosiers, regardless of party affiliation, reported believing climate change was happening now and is at least partly caused by human activity.
