2010.09.13 Press Release
West Los Angeles Residents Call for End to Coal in Los Angeles
Contact: David Graham-Caso
(858) 945-2203
david.grahamcaso@sierraclub.org
At Third Department of Water and Power Workshop, Residents Push for Coal-free Future
(Los Angeles, CA) — West Los Angeles residents attended the third Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) workshop on the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). Workshop attendees expressed enthusiastic support for moving LADWP away from its current dependency on coal-fired power plants and promote more robust energy efficiency programs. Better support from LADWP for distributed-generation solar programs such as a Feed-in-Tariff was also very popular among attendees.
“I showed up to see what plans the [LADWP] had for its coal plants, which are both huge sources of global warming pollution,” said West LA resident and UCLA faculty member Jim Ralston.
Following a presentation on the LADWP’s draft IRP, attendees broke out into small groups and were asked to list out their priorities for the LADWP and rank them.
“I was hoping to see a better plan for their energy efficiency program. Avoiding a kilowatt-hour costs half as much as burning dirty-coal and doesn’t pollute. Why on earth we’d continue to invest in dirty and dangerous coal when we have more cost-effective options that can create jobs in LA is beyond me,” Ralston added.
Workshop attendees added their voice to a growing number of Angelenos who see the city’s continued use of coal as an increasing financial threat, given the rising cost of coal, as well as a missed opportunity to support economic development locally. Over 700 citizens have sent comments to LADWP on the IRP, requesting a coal-free future. In addition, more than 5,000 Angelenos have signed petitions to City Council calling for swift action to move away from coal-fired power.
Coal-fired power still supplies more energy to LA than any other source. Los Angeles’ two coal-fired power plants, located in Arizona and Utah, are among the worst stationary sources of pollution in the United States and are major contributors to the potentially catastrophic climate disruption that may already be intensifying the wildfires and droughts that directly affect families in Los Angeles.
“The priorities we’re seeing in West LA are similar to those we saw downtown and in the east valley. Angelenos want a clean energy future, not one powered by dirty coal,” said Evan Gillespie, Regional Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “In places like Mar Vista, Angelenos are rapidly putting up their own solar panels to lessen their individual consumption of coal-fired power. We should be investing money in those types of programs, not dirty coal,” Gillespie added.
By transitioning away from coal-fired power and investing in renewable energy and efficiency programs, LADWP can make Los Angeles the national leader in the fight against climate change while creating family-wage jobs and stimulating economic development in Los Angeles. The clean energy economy has the most promising potential in the California economy, with green jobs growing at ten times the rate of statewide average since 2005.
- # # # -
About the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign
The Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign is a national effort that aims to move our economy toward a clean energy future by stopping new polluting coal-fired plants, phasing out existing plants, and keeping U.S. coal reserves in the ground and out of international markets. Thanks in part to the work of the Beyond Coal Campaign, plans for 139 new coal plants have been shelved since the beginning of the coal rush, keeping more than 530 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and encouraging America to follow the path to a new clean energy economy.
For more information about the Sierra Club’s Coal Free LA campaign, please visit www.sierraclub.org/coal/ca.
- # # # -
Contact: David Graham-Caso
(858) 945-2203
david.grahamcaso@sierraclub.org