Indiana Group Calls For Climate Action Plan

Indiana is one of 16 states without a climate action plan.  But, the group Earth Charter Indiana is trying to change that.

Wednesday, the organization gave a presentation to the Environmental Rules Board on why they think creating one is necessary.

Alexis Litz is a student at Hanover College and one of the people who testified in front of the Board. She also lives a mile from a coal fired power plant and sees the impact the coal industry has on employing Hoosiers. 

Litz admits moving away from coal could cause economic hardships in the short term, but says those are outweighed by the potential long term benefits on the environment.

"They need to basically push for cleaner energy, renewable energy resources that cut back on our carbon emissions," she said.  "Rather than continuing to invest in coal and invest in natural gas because both of those fuel sources, they release an enormous amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere."

Earth Charter Indiana is not asking the board to give specifics of the plan just yet, only that it starts the process of putting one together.

Litz says if steps are taken to assemble a plan, she wants it to address several key issues.

"Investing in renewable energy resources, preventing pollution in our state, ensuring that our future generations won't suffer too badly from the effects of climate change," said Litz.

Earth Charter Indiana received 400 signatures in support of creating a plan.

Executive Director Jim Poyser says ultimately the goal is to ensure the state has enough information to make decisions for environmental sustainability.

"One of the things we want to do is to be very helpful in getting our leaders as much information as they need to understand better the science around climate change and its impact on Indiana as well as the economic opportunity that could come out of a plan to move toward renewable energy and sustainable agricultural practices," said Poyser.

The Environmental Rules Board says these kinds of petitions are rare and is reviewing the request. Earth Charter expects a decision on its request later this year.