A climate bill sponsored by Indiana Republican Senator, Mike Braun, passed with broad bipartisan support Thursday.
The Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2021 was first introduced last year, but stalled.
It establishes a voluntary greenhouse gas certification program that helps farmers and other landowners receive credit for preventing, reducing, or mitigating greenhouse gas emissions or carbon sequestration.
The bill--which racked up endorsements from climate and pro-farm groups alike--is seen as a step forward by experts like Purdue Climate Change Research Center Professor Jeff Dukes. But he cautions those steps are relatively small and require little political capital from Republicans.
“I think the politics are going to continue to shift on this, and it’s going to get easier and easier for them to do more and more," Dukes said. "But, in the short term, the easy things for them to do that aren’t going to anger their voters are things like plant trees or find ways for farmers to get more money. “
For Dukes and other experts, advancements in green and renewable energy are next steps, but they admit real progress could be slow.
Indiana’s other U.S. Senator, Republican Todd Young, joined several others in the GOP who supported the bill. Experts say that’s a sign the conversation around climate change is evolving.
The measure now moves to the US House of Representatives.
