Prototype Issue
Living for the Future
By Kate Lutz
(page 2 of 2)Johnny Appleseed must be cheering on TreePeople’s mission to grow the urban forest and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s vision to green LA. The Mayor has pledged to plant 1 million new trees, and TreePeople has created a new partnership with Los Angeles Department of Recreation & Parks to support his vision. Last fall they began helping to plant 300,000 trees on nearly 16,000 acres of Los Angeles parkland. The plantings started in the harbor area and the northeast San Fernando Valley and will spread to the rest of the city over the next several years.
More trees in urban parks mean more shade, improved air quality, reduced energy costs and a well-rooted approach to reducing storm water flooding. “We’re looking to turn our big city into a big park,” said Laurie Kaufman, TreePeople director of communications.
To support the Million Trees LA initiative, TreePeople and Million Trees LA milliontreesla.org) are offering free Community Greening workshops to train Angelenos how to lead a park-, campus- and street-planting project. To date volunteers have planted more than 1,000 trees at Harbor Regional Park, Hansen Dam Recreation Area, Leland Park, Runyon Canyon Park and other park woodlands. To get involved www.treepeople.org or contact volunteer@treepeople.org.
DWP PUSHED TO COME CLEAN
LA boasts the nation’s largest municipal utility, the LA Department of Water and Power, which provides electricity for 4 million residents. Less than 5% of its power, however, is from renewable energy, and—gasp!— half is from coal. Mayor Villaraigosa recently increased the DWP’s target for renewables to reach the ambitious goal of 20% renewable energy supply by 2010.
Starting June 30 a new state global-warming law initiates a greenhouse gas performance standard for electricity procured by local publicly owned utilities. This bars purchasing electricity produced from high-CO2 emissions sources. DWP has already taken some real steps to comply, with its current construction of a wind facility in Kern County, and it has issued a new request for proposals to get 1% more renewables from wind.
The looming question? With its heavy reliance on coal, how will LA reach such a huge 20% goal in less than four years? Collectively, Riverside, Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale, LA and Anaheim get 75% of their power from a coal-fired plant in Utah known as IPP.
“The environmental community will be watching LA’s progress,” said Martin Schlageter, campaign and advocacy director of the Coalition for Clean Air. “The other big need is to find ways to reduce energy consumption and that means all of us need to look at our energy addiction to oil and coal.” To learn more www.coalitionforcleanair.org.
For progress to date, thanks in part go to: Coalition for Clean Air; Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life in Southern California; Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology; Natural Resources and Defense Council; Environment California; Global Green; and Sierra Club. Plus City Council member Tony Cardenas was the first to seriously put the renewables question on DWP’s table.
NETWORKING REPORT
Directory assistance is now available for the environment. Founded by late Disney exec Frank Wells and his wife Luanne and run by son Kevin Wells, recently updated two essential databases to enhance networking with the local enviro community and elected officials. Their Environmental Group Directory presents nearly 200 enviro groups. Also, the Southern California Policy Maker’s Database, developed with the Better World Group, gives contact and role info on more than 5,200 Southern California elected officials, state, county and city commissions and boards. All helpful to any readers who want to be heard on environmental legislation. The directories and an online environmental events calendar are available at www.environmentnow.org.
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