Indianapolis Recorder: City-county council supports research for carbon credit program. Now what?

Read the full story by Jayden Kennett here.

The Indianapolis City-County Council recently passed a special resolution to show its support for a possible carbon credit program. Now the city will evaluate how it might benefit from such a program. 

Carbon markets allow for businesses, municipalities and other organizations to purchase a carbon credit to offset their greenhouse gas emissions, according to the North East Foresters Association. A carbon credit provides ways for businesses to reduce their impacts on climate change by monetizing a single tree or acre. 

The resolution, passed Dec. 5, doesn’t mean Indianapolis will definitely have a carbon credit program. Instead, councilor John Barth, who sponsored the resolution, said it’s about the council “expressing our support” to move the city toward having a program in the future. Establishing a carbon credit program would require passing an ordinance, which Barth said he hopes to do eventually. The resolution requires an update by November 2023 on timelines, a proposed model and potential outcomes of a program.