Global Green News
Los Angeles Wears Green
LA OPINION. JUNE 5, 2009. By Jorge Morales Almada
(Translated from the original Spanish) Los Angeles is considered one of the more "green" cities in the country for its efforts to protect the environment. However, it is also one of the most polluted cities in the world. According to Global Green USA, it still has a long way to go.
On the occasion of World Environment Day, celebrated today, environmental groups called on people to think about the damage done to the planet and called on governments to take measures to combat climate change.
Mary Luévano, director of policy at Global Green in Los Angeles, acknowledged that the local government has been taking aggressive action and agreed that the plan presented two years ago by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is going well.
"For us, every day is the day of the environment," said Luévano. "We're not planning anything extra for this day, but we welcome the initiative, which was adopted at the state level on green buildings."
On Wednesday, the State Assembly passed AB-758 for existing buildings, residential and commercial, working with energy efficient and less expensive, requiring the California Energy Commission to develop a program for it.
According to Luévano, power generation for buildings represents 48% of national emissions of greenhouse gases that are causing global warming. In California, more than 75% of homes are built under outdated standards for energy, and according to the environmentalist, the new measure would provide an opportunity to make homes more energy efficient and save money on electricity to residents.
World Environment Day was established in 1972 by the UN - each June 5 activities are carried out to solve pollution problems.
This year he came to Mexico as the host country to summon other nations to care for the environment with the slogan: "Your planet needs you to come together to combat climate change."
Green Coalition L.A. acknowledged that Mayor Villaraigosa has been on track with its plans to combat global warming. In May 2007 the Mayor established a plan of action to reduce greenhouse gases in the city by 35% by 2030. That goal is much more to the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol and is the largest of any metropolis in the country. The green plan in Los Angeles has more than 50 initiatives to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide.
Jazmin Ortega, spokesman for the Mayor, emphasized the expansion of the Clean Trucks Program to replace 16 thousand engines in diesel trucks to natural gas, and a local law to encourage construction of more buildings to green standards and water conservation measures that came into effect on June 1st.
"We helped pass Proposition O, restore habitat in the Owens Valley, we are replacing the lighting sources with LED lights, and we have an aggressive recycling program, we recycle over 60% of garbage from Los Angeles," Ortega said.
As a county, there are more green businesses than in all of California. In total, 368 of which there are approximately 2,200 throughout the state are devoted to renewable energy generation.
The agenda of the World Environment Day:
- Giving a human face to environmental problems.
- Allowing people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development.
- Promote an understanding that communities are crucial to changing attitudes towards environmental issues.
- Promote partnerships that will ensure all nations and their people enjoy a more secure and more prosperous.
