In Carmel, Indiana, where conservative Mayor Jim Brainard has set an example for how to act locally on climate change, the Republican city council unanimously approved a resolution to measure citywide emissions and set voluntary goals toward reducing them. The resolution had strong support from youth leaders, who are “going to be affected by [climate change] when we are older [and] need to take action for our futures.”
Brainard, who has traveled extensively to talk about sustainable cities and highlight his work in Carmel, praised the resolution for helping the city move forward with its climate goals, a four-page list of actions and projects to help reduce greenhouse gases, from congestion-reducing roundabouts to storm water projects to tree planting. “It’s important to go on record stating that we want to improve our environment,” Brainard said. “Every citizen, whether it’s an adult or child, has a right to breathe clean air and drink clean water. It’s a commitment to improve over time. We set some voluntary goals. It’s important to recognize when we save energy we also save money and the City of Carmel has already done many, many things to help the environment and save taxpayers’ money, and this resolution sets even higher goals.”
Carmel is the first municipality in Indiana to pass a climate resiliency and recovery resolution.