Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass released a new plan Thursday that sets goals for the city to combat climate change and adapt to a warmer future.
Low' Climate action plan calls for doubling local solar power in Los Angeles by 2030 and reducing fossil fuel use in buildings and city buses.
It describes how the city aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the Port of Los Angeles and Los Angeles International Airport. And it sets goals to reduce water use, address the risks of extreme heat, and expand parks and green spaces to cool neighborhoods and restore natural habitat.
“Cities are the front lines of the climate crisis. Angelenos live with the impacts every day, from devastating wildfires and floods to rising heat and longer heat waves,” Bass wrote in a letter announcing the document. “This plan outlines how Angelenos will benefit from a resilient, carbon-free LA”
The mayor will speak about the plan Thursday at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, where a new water recycling project is under construction. Under Bass, city officials decided double capacity of the project, which will transform wastewater into 45 million gallons of pure drinking water per day, enough for 500,000 people.
Bass’ strategy expands on an earlier Los Angeles “Green New Deal” plan that then-Mayor Eric Garcetti adopted in 2019.
Los Angeles City Comptroller Kenneth Mejía in 2023 asked for a reboot of that previous plan, saying it lacked clear metrics to track progress toward goals.
Bass' strategy includes 14 goals and more than 50 goals and actions, which he says are “designed to deliver concrete and measurable climate outcomes.” The objectives include:
- Increase renewable energy to 80% by 2030 and 100% by 2035.
- Convert all Los Angeles Department of Transportation buses to electric by 2028.
- Work with airlines and fuel suppliers at LAX and Van Nuys Airport to increase sustainable fuel use by 28% by 2030.
- Pass a new ordinance this year to ban new oil and gas drilling, and create a process to end current oil and gas drilling in the city.
- Install 120,000 new electric vehicle chargers by 2030.
- Increase local water use in Los Angeles so that the city is 70% locally dependent by 2035 and reduce average water use per person by 25% by 2035.
- Establish five new parks by 2030 and 10 by 2035, and substantially increase the city's tree cover by 2035.
The city is also working towards the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2045.
Bass' strategy provides the city with direction to address climate change. But like its predecessor, the Green New Deal, the plan will not be legally binding.
City Administrative Officer Matthew Szabo is working on a separate Climate Action and Adaptation Plan intended to align with the state's requirement that local governments maintain climate adaptation and resilience strategies in their overall plans.
Time staff writer Blanca Begert contributed to this report.
