L.A. Mayor: City Already 'Stepping Up' to Cut Power Plant Pollution

Mayor Eric Garcetti today lauded a sweeping plan by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to significantly cut power plant pollution around the country by 2030 and said the city of Los Angeles is already stepping up to meet the proposed standards.

The EPA is proposing to slash emissions of carbon dioxide from electricity generation to 30 percent of 2005 levels over the span of a decade and a half.

The plan, subject to a year-long public review and comment period, urges increasing energy efficiency and switching power plants to wind, solar and other renewable energy -- efforts that each state may use to offset its carbon emissions to meet the EPA's proposed standards.

Electricity generation is "our nation's single greatest source" of emissions that contribute to global warming, Garcetti said.

"I applaud President Obama and the (EPA) for their proposal to limit carbon pollution from power plants," he said.

Garcetti told Video News West that Los Angeles is already on its way to using cleaner energy.

"We know our future is in renewables," he said. "It's in the abundant sunshine. It's in those sources of energy that don't put our planet in peril."

The effects of global warming can be seen in the drought and the "melting of the polar ice caps," he told VNW.

"This is a serious problem that we face. It's the challenge of our times," he said. "We're stepping up here in Los Angeles."

The city last summer took steps to end its reliance on coal energy, and has started a process to transition entirely to coal-free energy by 2025.

Power from coal-fired plants in Arizona and Utah make up 39 percent of energy purchased by the city Department of Water and Power.

Los Angeles' plan is estimated to cut emissions citywide to 40 percent of 1999 levels, officials said.

While critics of the EPA's proposal said it would lead to job losses, Garcetti said it bodes well for the economy.

"This isn't just good for our earth. This isn't just good for the resilience of our city. It's good for jobs," he told VNW.

"We've become the green jobs capital of the nation," he said, "and I'm looking forward to bringing tens of thousands more jobs based on what we do for renewable energy, cleaning up our water and getting us through this drought."

—City News Service