UPDATE October 2019: Team Sierra's City Hike: LA was a great success! Check out the recap and photos here!
Did you know that Los Angeles holds the dubious distinction of being the smoggiest city in the US? Our air quality declines every year due to high levels of ozone and particle pollution. The Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club arduously fights the EPA and the Southern California Air Quality Management District at hearings and in federal court to implement more effective regulations to reduce such pollutants. We also fight City Council in SoCal to implement strong regulations and restrictions for oil drilling and oil refineries in residential neighborhoods, where communities are exposed to significant hazards from the transport, refining, export, and burning of dirty and dangerous fossil fuels.
Here are some of the big wins and progress we've contributed to:
- In Culver City in western L.A. County, public health advocates, led in part by the Sierra Club's Clean Break Committee, persuaded the city council to initiate a study on how to phase out oil production in the city. The move was a turnaround for the council, which less than a year previously had planned to expand extraction of crude from the Inglewood Oil Field, part of which lies under the city.
- Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Department of Water and Power announced that they will abandon plans to repower three large gas plants that provide power to Los Angeles. The announcement provides hope on our ability to arrest the worst impacts of climate change and sets a roadmap for utilities planning for 100 percent clean energy.
- Coal and gas-fired power plants emit more than 2.3 billion metric tons per year of carbon pollution, approximately 40% of total US energy-related carbon pollution. Although there are no coal power plants in SoCal, the My Gen Campaign has been working to strengthen the standard, showing we can move from dirty to clean energy and not increase the use of dirty, costly alternatives like natural gas. Learn more about our Beyond Coal Campaign.
- After six months of public outcry, the residents of Glendale succeeded in getting the City Council to vote 4-1 to pause a gas plant expansion at the Grayson site in South Glendale in favor of exploring clean energy alternatives. Had the power plant expanded this is what it would have caused. Glendale was looking at a $500 million expansion of the Grayson Power Plant that would increase emissions by 415,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, increase ozone and particulate pollution, and generate electricity to sell to other cities -- this would be comparable to adding 90,000 more gas-burning cars to Glendale's roads!
- The Los Angeles City Council passed a motion to clean up this pollution, setting a goal of transitioning the Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s bus fleet to zero-emission buses by 2030.
We want a California where all people can breathe healthy air, all energy is clean and renewable, and all communities benefit from a fair economy and a sustainable environment. And the good news is that you can help too.
HIKE WITH US FOR CLEAN AIR ON SEPTEMBER 28TH!
The Angeles Chapter teamed up with Team Sierra -- a program that aids our many initiatives, to launch our first-ever City Hike fundraising event to support local and national efforts to ensure a livable community for us and future generations.
This special city hike will take you on a 3.8-mile or 7.7-mile trek from Koreatown to downtown LA while enjoying the chance of winning prizes, and delicious food and drinks from our sponsors along the way. As we hike, we will connect with nearby nature going through various of LA's most famous parks, such as Grand Park, Vista Hermosa, Pershing Square, and MacArthur Park.
After some fun, comes more fun! We will have a rooftop patio party waiting for you. Check out the route and the event schedule here.
Let’s raise money to transition LA to 100% clean energy by 2050 and support the conversion of city buses to electric power to reduce pollution, as well as to protect public lands and make the outdoors more accessible for all.