MAYOR GARCETTI RELEASES GREEN NEW DEAL UPDATE

 
06/09/2022

[ Article originally appeared on www.lamayor.org ]

Mayor Eric Garcetti today released the third update of his Green New Deal, which demonstrates dramatic progress on the ambitious targets he set three years ago, highlighted by a 36% reduction in L.A.’s citywide greenhouse gas emissions from the City’s 1990 baseline.

“When we laid out L.A.’s Green New Deal, we presented a vision for the sustainable and equitable future our children deserve — and three years later, we can proudly report on our incredible progress,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “Los Angeles is a globally recognized climate leader because of so much more than what happens at City Hall — it’s the growing coalition of community, business, and environmental justice leaders who have made it their mission to make this decade one of climate action.”

Mayor Garcetti launched L.A.’s Green New Deal in 2019 to set aggressive goals for the City to address the climate emergency, strengthen our economy and middle class, and place L.A. on course to be carbon neutral by 2050. The plan is guided by four key principles: uphold the Paris Climate Agreement; deliver environmental justice and equity through an inclusive green economy; ensure every Angeleno has the ability to join the green economy by creating pipelines to good-paying, green jobs; and lead by example within City government, showing the world what an urban Green New Deal looks like in practice.

Los Angeles’ sustainability progress through its Green New Deal helped lead to a 36% reduction in L.A.’s citywide greenhouse gas emissions from the city’s 1990 baseline, outpacing the standards set by the United Nations IPCC guidelines. The announcement comes as the City was recognized last week as the #1 Energy Star City by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with nearly 650 Energy Star-certified buildings and $195 million in cost savings through improved energy efficiency. 

The latest update to the report shows significant progress across Los Angeles’ main sources of emissions: buildings, transportation, electricity, water, and waste. These include: 

  • Installation of 577 MW of local solar today, surpassing the goal by 77 MW;

  • 82,000 AFY in stormwater capture capacity, exceeding the target by 10%;

  • Installation of 18,205 commercial EV chargers, exceeding the target by 8,205 — the most of any U.S. city;

  • Installation of 36,000 cool roofs, achieving the goal one year faster and exceeding it by 23,000;

  • Investing $150 million in energy efficiency programs to renters and affordable housing customers, exceeding the milestone by $50 million;

  • Energy grid that runs on 62% zero-emission sources, ahead of schedule to reach 100% by 2035; 

  • $247 million invested in customer water conservation efforts, with 38% specifically going to low-income customers;

  • Los Angeles World Airports and the L.A. Convention Center have banned single-use plastic water bottles;

  • Expansion of Metro Bike Share to 10 additional neighborhoods, bringing the total to 27, which is seven greater than the 2021 goal; 

  • Worked hand-in-hand with frontline communities and the City Council to create a directive to phase out oil drilling in the City.

Taken together, by 2050, the work and milestones of our Green New Deal are expected to save more than 1,650 lives, 660 trips to the hospital, create 400,000 green jobs, and save $16 billion in avoided healthcare expenses each year. 

Mayor Garcetti has pursued one of the most aggressive sustainability agendas in the world, including an ambitious goal to reach a 100% clean energy grid by 2035. Since he took office in 2013, the share of Los Angeles’ electricity coming from renewable sources has more than doubled to 43%, which exceeds the State’s current trajectory. The Mayor has taken bold steps to reduce the City’s reliance on dirty energy sources, from completely divesting from coal power by 2025, to building out the largest public EV charging network of any city in the country. 

Mayor Garcetti has led Los Angeles to pursue its own resilient local water supply and become a national model in conservation. Since 2013, LADWP customers have saved over 256 billion gallons of water — enough water to fill the LA Coliseum over 900 times, and nearly double the amount of water LADWP uses in an entire year. In 2018, Mayor Garcetti played a critical role in the passage of Measure W, L.A. County's Safe, Clean Water Program. Measure W provides nearly $300 million in local, dedicated annual funding for projects that increase local water supplies, improve water quality, enhance the public right of way, and protect public health.

Mayor Garcetti has also pushed Metro and LADOT to create and accelerate some of the most ambitious sustainability goals in the nation — including the commitment to fully electrify Metro’s bus fleet by 2030 and LADOT’s fleet by 2028. After Mayor Garcetti helped lead the coalition to pass Measure M in 2016, the largest local transportation funding program in North American history, Metro is expanding its rail transit system with 15 new and expanded lines, fixing streets and freeways, and putting more than 777,800 people to work for decades to come.

Led by the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, the report was prepared with the generous support of The Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, a partner to the City on numerous sustainability initiatives, including the Save the Drop campaign and the Sustainable Development Goals. To read the full report or download L.A.’s Green New Deal, visit plan.lamayor.org.

Support for L.A.’s Green New Deal 

“The City of LA is leading the way by proving that cutting energy costs, increasing efficiency, and reducing emissions, can also save money for municipalities and their constituents,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “Congratulations Los Angeles for your #1 Energy Star recognition in reducing carbon pollution and fighting the effects of climate change.”

“LACCD is in lockstep with the City’s efforts to build a more inclusive, sustainable and prosperous Los Angeles. Our Board of Trustees recent approval of our Clean Energy and Sustainability Resolution sets goals for our district to be carbon-free by 2040 and to install EV chargers at 25% of all parking stalls by 2030, amongst other bold and visionary goals,” said Francisco C. Rodriguez, Ph.D., Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). “Our nine colleges are also focused on developing the next generation of our local workforce with career training opportunities that support the emerging green economy.”

“Cities are critically important to combating air and climate pollution. I’m glad Mayor Garcetti has placed a focus on kicking our addiction to combustion transportation and focused on deploying electric buses and trucks,” said Adrian Martinez, Senior Attorney with Right To Zero Campaign at Earthjustice. “There’s still much more work to be done to clean up our community, but our zero-emission future is within sight." 

"Mayor Garcetti’s Green New Deal rightly highlighted the role of greening our building stock in our city’s efforts around addressing climate change," said Councilmember Nithya Raman, Mayor Garcetti's appointee to the South Coast Air Quality Management District Board. "I’m so happy that the legislation that the City Council passed last week will get us to our goal for new buildings seven years ahead of schedule."

"Los Angeles is taking an equitable, 'all in' approach to our just transition to clean energy by 2035," said Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell, the chair of the Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and River committee. "This is the issue of our day: we either have a habitable city and planet, or we don't. Making Los Angeles 100% carbon free by 2035, while meeting the benchmarks of the Green New Deal, is an imperative. In my committee, we will continue this hard work to ensure we meet our collective goal."

"In the year 2100, when the human race looks back at the challenges this century brought us, I know they will be grateful for everything Mayor Garcetti and the City Council accomplished in this past decade on climate, and for everything we are going to accomplish next." said Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz.

SOURCE: https://www.lamayor.org/mayor-garcetti-releases-green-new-deal-update



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