To the editor:

The adage goes, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned,” and as extreme heat threatens the health and safety of Hoosiers, it remains to be seen if Indiana’s politicians will put down the violin.

The past weeks have been defined by temperatures in the high 90s across America, worsening what the CDC calls one of the most life-threatening weather hazards affecting Hoosiers: extreme heat. Now, credit where credit is due, Indiana lawmakers have made important first steps in combating climate change — Senator Braun co-founding the Senate Climate Solutions Caucus, introducing the Trillion Trees and Natural Carbon Storage Act and authoring the Growing Climate Solutions Act come to mind — but these aren’t enough to combat the existential threat we face.

Senators Braun and Young and other Hoosier lawmakers need to support a price on carbon to lower the emissions causing Indiana’s extreme heat meaningfully. The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act is the perfect candidate. The bill taxes carbon emissions and distributes its revenue directly to the American people through a monthly dividend, and since the revenue doesn’t get locked up in Washington, it does so all without increasing the government’s size and scope.

If Indiana lawmakers want to reverse Indiana’s impending extreme heat crisis, the EICDA is the best path forward.

Sincerely,

Nathan Miller, Plainfield