Braun
INDIANAPOLIS — Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, has formed the bipartisan Senate Climate Solutions Caucus along with Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware.
The Fort Wayne chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby commended Braun for “reaching across the aisle” to work on the impending threat. The initiative was announced across the nation on Wednesday.
The two senators officially launched the new group with a joint op-ed in The Hill. They described the caucus as “a bipartisan group of senators who, like the Americans we serve, believe Congress should play a central role in guiding America’s 21st century energy economy and addressing the challenge of a changing climate. Our caucus seeks to take the politics out of this important issue.”
A Wednesday morning article in The Hill written by Miranda Green says the initiative “is largely aimed as a way to let Republican lawmakers become a part of the climate conversation by removing the ‘politics’ of the issue.”
“Taking action on climate change is a critical issue and one that will affect all Hoosiers,” said Fort Wayne CCL group leader Kathryn Lisinicchia. “We applaud Sen. Braun’s leadership and willingness to demonstrate the importance of working together to develop reasonable, bipartisan solutions to this issue.”
The CCL organizes its chapters by congressional district, putting Steuben, DeKalb, LaGrange and Noble counties within the Fort Wayne chapter in District 3.
This is a major milestone: the group will be the only dedicated space for bipartisan climate discussions in the Senate. Both Senate offices will be inviting colleagues to join the group in Republican and Democratic pairs, maintaining bipartisan parity. This structure complements the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus in the House, formed in 2016.
“Most Americans want Republicans and Democrats to work together on solving climate change, and Senators Braun and Coons are leading the way with the creation of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus,” said Citizens’ Climate Lobby Executive Director Mark Reynolds. “This caucus will serve as an incubator where productive dialogue can lead to strong bipartisan climate legislation. For any climate solution to be enacted and upheld, it has to have buy-in from both sides of the aisle. Braun and Coons have initiated a process to make that happen.”
Eighty percent of all American voters say it’s important for any national climate solution to be bipartisan. A recent Ipsos survey found that 77% of young Republican voters, in particular, call climate change a “serious threat.” In Indiana, 64% of Hoosiers know climate change is happening, and 74% of Hoosiers want to see CO2 regulated as a pollutant, according to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communications.
According to the op-ed, the lawmakers will largely look to technological developments and business for answers, pointing to innovations in energy efficiency at manufacturers and in the agricultural sector as well as carbon neutral pledges already being adopted individually across a number of industries.
