Carmel City Councilor
When I started my business in Carmel, a run for city council was not on the menu. But as the restaurant grew and I set down roots, I was compelled to give back and ensure the city would be just as hospitable – if not more – to residents in the years to come.
Now, with a growing family, I find in myself a similar drive to ensure the health of the environment at-large for their future. I’m lucky to find colleagues in Carmel who have long worked to be good stewards of the environment and have in turn made our city a statewide standout in sustainability and an example for municipalities nationwide.
More so, we are achieving dramatic results while still working from the conservative values that got us elected. In my previous post as a reporter in 2017, I witnessed Carmel become the first municipality in the state to pass a climate resilience and recovery resolution.
Our efforts, however, began much earlier. Under Republican Mayor Jim Brainard, Carmel has confidently been leading since the turn of the millennium – from a decade-long transition to LED to introducing green spaces and reengineering our traffic patterns to reduce carbon emissions by 26,000 tons in 2020 alone. Since taking office, a home-grown business has made Carmel among the first in the nation to fuel part of our fleet with hydrogen energy.
For as much progress as we’ve made at home, I’m happy to see the work that has been done by Hoosiers in Washington as well. In his brief time in the upper body, Senator Mike Braun has sought to be a voice for the Republican Party on the environment. For example, he has led across the aisle to form a bipartisan caucus to evaluate climate solutions – the first of its kind in the Senate. Earlier this year, he turned that talk into policy by introducing the Growing Climate Solutions Act. It’s a smart piece of bipartisan legislation that lets farmers reduce their climate footprint by opening private, voluntary markets allowing them to sequester carbon.
Smart solutions like this that work across the aisle are an excellent starting point for the bipartisan future of work to address green energy and climate issues.
It’s clear there is no one solution to address climate change, nor can it be addressed by the city of Carmel alone – we need partners in every party, in every state, in big cities and in rural towns. It’s crucial that as our nation moves ahead together, we agree on policies that deliver results. It’s up to conservatives to learn from those in the party already leading on the issue; support solutions with proven economic benefits, like clean energy; and take steps to ensure Indiana and the nation remain safe and abundant for our children and our children’s children.
Adam Aasen represents the Southeast District on the Carmel City Council.