Los Angeles adopted a series of ambitious climate and transportation goals years ago under former Mayor Eric Garcetti, who had the relatively easy task of setting long-term goals knowing he would be out of office when they arrived.
But with some of those important deadlines approaching, Mayor Karen Bass has the toughest task of meeting them. There are already signs of poor performance and lag.
Plans for more than $40 billion in rail, road and mobility projects that were supposed to be completed in time for the 2028 Olympics have been slashed after Metro failed to secure even half the necessary funding. A city comptroller's report last fall found that Garcetti's Green New Deal plan has not accomplished much, lacks meaningful metrics of progress and does not amount to a “comprehensive and workable set of steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” greenhouse effect”.
It is disappointing that these noble efforts to make Los Angeles an environmental and transit model have yielded so little result.
In the latest example of lowered expectations, Metro staff have attempted for the second time in a year to push back the transit agency's 2030 deadline to convert its entire fleet of 2,000 buses to emission-free electric models, without even a vote. . In the seven years since Metro adopted the zero-emissions policy, it has managed to order only 145 battery electric buses and deliver only 50 of them.
In a “receive and file” report that reads like a list of excuses, Metro staff attributed the slow progress to manufacturing, cost, range, and charging and network infrastructure challenges. Electric buses can travel about 240 kilometers before needing a recharge. But agency officials have done little to show that they are working urgently to overcome these obstacles, presenting instead as a foregone conclusion that the city will not be able to meet the 2030 deadline until 2035.
Metro officials should redouble their efforts on climate and transportation solutions, without making excuses for why they cannot be met. It's a bad look, especially as the city prepares to enter the global spotlight with the Olympics.
Fortunately, Bass and other Metro board members did not accept that defeatism. They directed staff to return with a detailed action plan to achieve a 100% emissions-free fleet “as soon as possible and fiscally responsible.” The board is right to resist efforts by Metro staff to reduce this key climate and air quality goal.
“It is imperative that this board make clear that when setting goals, we do not do so lightly and we do not easily accept setback,” Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky said at the board meeting last week. It's good to hear that at least some elected officials are trying to keep promises made by their predecessors.
We hope the dismal progress on switching to electric buses isn't a sign of things to come regarding the other climate goals of Los Angeles' Green New Deal, but it doesn't look promising.
Garcetti set out a variety of short- and long-term metrics to improve air quality, boost renewable energy, electrify vehicles and buildings, and get 70% of the city's water from local sources by 2035 in an effort to address “the greatest threat to our physical safety.” and our health.” He also established the sweeping “28 by 28” plan six years ago to accelerate 28 major transportation projects and complete them before the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Metro has replaced 10 of the projects on the list with less ambitious alternatives that can be completed in four years. For example, plans to build a light rail line in the eastern San Fernando Valley, the Sepulveda transit corridor linking the valley to the west side, and a bike path on the Los Angeles River were downgraded to things like lanes exclusive for buses and improvements to existing railway lines and stations.
These are necessary and virtuous goals, and achieving them would make the city a greener and healthier place to live. Leaders should learn from these setbacks to get ahead of other imminent goals. They should restructure how agencies are held accountable for making progress and set more aggressive interim goals that will put the city on the right path.
One way forward would be to codify them, as California has done with some of its key climate goals, so that they become legally enforceable requirements and not mere aspirations that finger-pointing bureaucrats ignore. A proposal moving through City Hall would make Los Angeles' climate policies more durable by incorporating them into the city's General Plan.
City Hall has already made some climate goals requirements, such as the goal of providing 100% carbon-free electricity by 2035. But city leaders should be more proactive in ensuring agencies are on track. To fulfill its mandate, the Department of Water and Power must arrange the power purchase agreements and transmission infrastructure necessary to double the city's renewable energy portfolio in just a few years. Stricter scrutiny today could prevent future disappointments.
Environmental promises from city leaders are gaining importance as Angelenos increasingly face deadly heat waves, destructive wildfires, polluted air and other effects of the climate crisis. As those impacts worsen, we will not look back charitably at government officials who offered excuses instead of action to clean up the air and reduce fossil fuel use.
Bass and other elected officials must understand that being a climate leader requires much more than simply setting strict goals. It takes years of hard work, pressuring bureaucracies to meet the urgency of a crisis.
