by Dori Chandler, H-IPL Board Member
On June 13th, hundreds of people from across the nation, including our Board member Dori Chandler and others Hoosiers, will be meeting with members of Congress in Washington, D.C. to push for a revenue-neutral carbon fee. Hoosier Interfaith Power & Light supports both local, statewide and national initiatives to address Climate Change and in 2016, the HIPL board endorsed Carbon Fee and Dividend as one policy solution.
Carbon Fee and Dividend puts a price on fossil fuels at the source–at the mine, wellhead, or port–and returns that revenue to American Households in the form of a monthly dividend check. According to a 2014 study by the Regional Economic Modeling Inc., if enacted, a Carbon Fee and Dividend will regionally create 412,000 jobs in the five-state Midwest Region by 2025, increase the Gross Regional Product by $28 billion annually after 20 years, prevent 4,000 premature deaths by 2035, and prevent 10 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
To enact smart policy decisions we need our Members of Congress to work together. The Climate Solutions Caucus is a bipartisan working group designed to create a strong block of support within Congress to create sensible climate policies. In light of the recent decision by the Trump Administration to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Representative Carlos Curbelo, the Republican co-chair of the Climate Solutions Caucus said on CNN that “If the administration won’t lead [on climate change], Congress must.” Indiana produces the 8th-highest amount of Carbon Emissions in the country. As a result, Indiana consistently ranks as one of the most polluted states in America.