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Youth-driven bill to create Indiana climate change task force dies in Senate — again

Karl Schneider, Indianapolis Star
·3 min read

Indiana lawmakers heard testimony in support of a bi-partisan bill to establish a statewide climate solutions task force, but the legislation stalled after the chairman of the Senate's Environmental Affairs Committee declined to call it for a vote.

This marks the second time that student group Confront the Climate Crisis has pushed legislators to establish the task force to “review issues related to sustainable and clean energy solutions.”

A similar bill in 2022 did not even receive a hearing.

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The legislation would have created a nine-member panel of senators, representatives and academic and utility experts. They would study topics such as conservation efforts, carbon credits and mass transit systems, then recommend a statewide climate action plan.

The bill's authors included Democrat Shelli Yoder of Bloomington and Republicans Jon Ford of Terre Haute and Ron Alting of Lafayette.

Last year's efforts:Indiana students demand action on climate change. Lawmakers respond with hard 'no.'

Students in bipartisan group "Confront the Climate Crisis," Rahul Durai, left, and Siya Goel, right, speak to fellow students and legislators on legislative advocacy day, Jan. 18, 2022, at the Indiana Statehouse. Durai and fellow members testified Feb. 20,2023, on a bill that would have established a statewide climate change task force.
Students in bipartisan group "Confront the Climate Crisis," Rahul Durai, left, and Siya Goel, right, speak to fellow students and legislators on legislative advocacy day, Jan. 18, 2022, at the Indiana Statehouse. Durai and fellow members testified Feb. 20,2023, on a bill that would have established a statewide climate change task force.

At the committee hearing Feb. 20, Confront the Climate Crisis co-directors Rahul Durai of West Lafayette and Ashlyn Walker from Carmel were among those urging the committee to pass the bill.

Cities around the state have passed climate resolutions to “lower their emissions and adapt to climate change effects in their own communities,” Walker said. Many of those resolution were pushed by youth groups.

“These inspiring young Hoosiers worked alongside city councilors, mayors, environmental experts and local stakeholders," Walker said, "to find solutions to this issue.”

Durai urged legislators to follow the example of the cities around the state working to build resilience.

“Climate change is a threat that jeopardizes the futures of all young people around the world and in Indiana,” Durai said. “Scientists at Purdue University have found that in Indiana, climate change is decreasing our crop yields, which harms our agricultural industry; increasing flooding, which endangers our infrastructure and public safety; and dramatically increasing extreme heat, which endangers our public health and worsens the reliability of our electric grid.”

The bill also drew supporters from faith and business interests.

Indiana Sen. Shelli Yoder (center) talks with fellow senators after closing out the first legislative session of the year Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. Yoder authored a bill that would have established the state's first climate change task force to study the effects of climate change on Indiana.
Indiana Sen. Shelli Yoder (center) talks with fellow senators after closing out the first legislative session of the year Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. Yoder authored a bill that would have established the state's first climate change task force to study the effects of climate change on Indiana.

Alexander Mingus, associate director of the Indiana Catholic Conference, spoke in favor of the bill. He said the Catholic Church emphasizes that people’s relationship to the environment is one of stewardship.

“It is clear that the topics to be studied by the Climate Solutions Task Force are attentive to the human needs presented by a changing climate and a changing economy,” Mingus said.

Karen Cecil, director of global environmental sustainability at Cummins, also supported the bill. She said strong communities and businesses depend on a healthy planet and the task force's work could benefit all Hoosiers.

No one spoke in opposition of the bill.

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Committee chair Sen. Rick Niemeyer was unavailable for an interview, but during the meeting said that while the bill would get testimony, there would be no vote.

“This is kind of the process sometimes, and there’s senators sitting right up here that took two and three and four years to get pieces of legislation through that they were very passionate about,” Niemeyer said. “This is the first step … and this is the last environmental meeting for the first half.”

Sen. Rick Niemeyer talks with a staff member on the last day of legislative session Tuesday, March 8, 2022, at the Statehouse in Indianapolis. Niemeyer chaired the senate's environmental affairs committee this year, where a climate change task force bill was heard.
Sen. Rick Niemeyer talks with a staff member on the last day of legislative session Tuesday, March 8, 2022, at the Statehouse in Indianapolis. Niemeyer chaired the senate's environmental affairs committee this year, where a climate change task force bill was heard.

Raina Maiga, legislative co-director at Confront the Climate Crisis, said the group is considering options for pushing forward with the task force.

Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @karlstartswithk

IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana climate change task force bill gets hearing but no vote