climate & environment
Till recently, Los Angeles was thought of as a climate leader. We committed to 100% renewable energy years ahead of the state, and we announced a Green New Deal. We have lost that reputation because we have lacked the systems of accountability and the political will to actually carry out our ambitious and necessary goals. Angelenos are now paying the costs.
Building the public transit system Angelenos voted for and clearing the path for much more infill housing are two of the largest emissions-reducing levers the city has, and they are embedded in our transportation and housing platforms. This section focuses on the rest: cleaning the air that is making Angelenos sick, investing in the parks and shade that make our neighborhoods livable, developing resilience and preparing for the wildfires, heat, drought, and flooding disasters we know are coming. And perhaps most importantly, creating the implementation and accountability infrastructure that turns plans into outcomes.
Cleaning our air & protecting our health
The problem
Air pollution kills more than 1,300 Angelenos a year — making Los Angeles the deadliest city in the country for fatal air pollution. It costs every Angeleno roughly $4,000 a year in lost workdays, emergency room visits, hospitalization, and premature death. Children growing up near our freeways, our ports, our oil wells, and our warehouses develop asthma at rates far above the national average, and the communities absorbing this pollution are overwhelmingly low-income, overwhelmingly Black and Latino, and have been bearing the cost for generations. Los Angeles has never once met federal clean air standards. These standards are health-based, not aspirational.
Our plan
End neighborhood oil drilling for good. The City Council will soon vote, for the second time in four years, to ban new oil wells and phase out existing operations. We will ensure that City agencies coordinate with state regulators to publish firm closure timelines and ensure capped wells are not leaking pollution, starting with the wells that have polluted the air and soil in frontline neighborhoods for generations. And we will fight to ensure operators pay to plug the hundreds of orphan wells they have left behind, with stronger accountability for the corporate parents of bankrupt operators. That will require ensuring we have the staff resources to carry forward the complex work of actually phasing out oil drilling in our city.
Push new building in Los Angeles to be all-electric. In 2022, Nithya led the City Council to pass an ordinance making new buildings all-electric. Federal courts later struck it down. The state has since developed new building standards designed to survive that legal challenge, and to enable and incentivize the construction of all electric buildings. We will push the city to adopt them without further delay.
Incentivize existing buildings to decarbonize. Establish an energy audit program to target rebates towards weatherization and appliance upgrades that deliver the most decarbonization and equity bang for the buck. Ensure city staffing is adequate to monitor energy efficiency of large buildings.
Hold proprietary departments to the city's emissions targets. The Port, the airports, and LADWP are the largest emitters under city control. The Port has made real progress, including securing more than $400 million in federal funding for zero-emission operations, but every proprietary department needs interim targets, public dashboards, and consequences for failing to meet goals.
Support a moratorium on any new large-scale data centers until operators are required to secure clean power, install cooling systems that do not burden our already limited water supply and wastewater systems, and pay the full cost of the electric grid and water infrastructure they demand.
Make neighborhood trips affordable, safe, and zero-emission. Nearly half of trips in our region are under three miles, such as errands and school runs. But over 80% of these short trips are taken in cars, adding to traffic and pollution. We will improve streets for people of all ages and abilities, expand bike and e-scooter share, and create mobility hubs that connect transportation options and serve as neighborhood anchors. A new e-bike rebate program will make clean transportation accessible to every Angeleno.
Make electric vehicles practical and affordable. We will partner with communities, businesses, building owners, and regional agencies to expand charging infrastructure and offer equitable incentives for electric car sharing and electric vehicle ownership. We will also lead by example by continuing to electrify the city's fleet.
More parks. More trees. More shade.
The problem
Only 62% of Angelenos live within a ten-minute walk of a park. In Chicago and New York, that number is closer to 99%. Los Angeles is a different kind of city, but the gap isn't just geography, it's investment. Los Angeles spends $92 per person on our parks, while peer cities spend between $137 and $583. The result of this chronic disinvestment is deferred maintenance, too few recreational facilities, and entire communities that have no green space within walking distance. Access to nature is fundamental to human health and reducing harm from air pollution and extreme heat.
Our plan
Champion more budgetary resources for our parks by backing the Charter Reform Commission's proposal to increase the parks set-aside in the city charter. We will treat that set-aside as a floor, not a ceiling, and pursue state and federal grants, and additional revenue sources to keep our parks funded.
Open 100 Community School Parks: School campuses that open their grounds to the public after hours can provide free recreation where Angelenos already live. This is a proven model that would increase the percentage of Angelenos living within a half-mile of a park from 62% to 80%, without acquiring more land. We already opened 10 Community School Parks thanks to our work on the Council, and we should open many more. Rec and Parks should provide consistent programming on site, including art classes and sports.
Reform outdated rules that inhibit private and nonprofit donations to our parks. The current donor recognition and partnership rules make it harder for foundations, businesses, and community groups to invest in our parks at the scale the system needs. Cities like New York have used these tools to bring substantial private investment to their park systems. Los Angeles can do the same, but it cannot happen without regulatory changes.
Remove the zoning and building code barriers to shade. Tree canopy, awnings, shade blades for bus stops, umbrellas, and covered arcades — basic tools used in hot cities around the world — are illegal in much of Los Angeles under current codes. We will rewrite the rules so businesses, property owners, and the city itself can install shade where it's needed.
Build shade where Angelenos wait. Add at least 600 new bus shelters or shade blades before the 2028 Games, prioritizing the highest-ridership stops.
Plant 100,000 street trees before the 2028 Games, prioritizing the neighborhoods with the least shade and the most heat. Adopt tree stewardship practices that allow those trees to grow full canopies. Plant trees that will not uproot sidewalks, and work with community groups to identify locations.
Invest in living streets, using green infrastructure funds to implement nature-based solutions such as bioswales and rain gardens that capture and filter water, provide habitat, and make walking and biking more enjoyable. We will encourage replacing non-functional pavement with green infrastructure, and reduce barriers for residents and businesses to make such investments in their properties.
Finish the LA RiverWay: an unbroken path along the river has been a dream since the 1990s. We will form a Joint Powers Agreement with LA County and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority to finally complete, manage, and operate the Upper RiverWay from Canoga Park to Downtown.
Climate Resilience & Emergency Preparedness
The problem
The Palisades fire demonstrated multiple government failures — a previous fire left smoldering, a chaotic evacuation, and inadequate firefighter staffing. The immediate aftermath was dysfunctional, and the rebuilding effort has been indefensibly slow. We must be better prepared for the next emergency. Los Angeles faces a full range of climate impacts, including extreme heat, wildfires, drought, flooding, and sea-level rise. Building a city that can withstand them requires strengthening our infrastructure, equipping our neighborhoods, and supporting the people most exposed before the fire, the heat wave, or the blackout hits. Too much of that work today is locked away in underfunded pockets of the bureaucracy, where small teams have done remarkable things in biodiversity, urban forestry, and river restoration but never at the scale we need.
Our plan
Expand the network of resilience hubs and cooling centers. Every neighborhood should have a place where residents can go during a heat wave, fire, or blackout to find cooling, charging, water, information, and supplies. We will equip parks, libraries, and community centers across the city to serve as these hubs, prioritizing neighborhoods most exposed to climate risk. We will shore up 311 to provide information on cooling centers, at-home heat safety resources, and report welfare concerns for vulnerable neighbors.
Expand the local water system and distributed energy resources as resilience infrastructure. Our reliance on imported water and centralized generation can leave entire neighborhoods exposed when the next wildfire, heat wave, or grid failure hits. We will accelerate the city’s programs on stormwater capture, water recycling, rooftop and community solar, and battery storage as core infrastructure investments.
Make sure everyone has access to the clean energy transition. Every household should be able to keep the power on during a heat wave and the water running during a drought. We will work to keep utility rates affordable, and help all Angelenos make their homes more energy and water efficient through proactive outreach to renters, immigrants, people with disabilities, and communities traditionally left out of incentive and assistance programs.
Treat natural systems as climate infrastructure. Restore ecosystems along the LA River and its tributaries. Plant and maintain native and climate-adapted species on city land. Adopt nature-based solutions for fuel reduction in fire-prone areas, such as prescribed burns, targeted grazing, and planting fire-resistant native plants to create green firebreaks. Treat urban trees as public infrastructure.
Fund the departments doing the work. Our parks, sanitation, and public works departments have absorbed years of cuts, and the city's biodiversity and climate teams were hit especially hard in the last budget cycle. We will prioritize staffing, capital investments and operating funds for departments implementing climate adaptation on the ground.
Strengthen our emergency communication system. The fires exposed how badly our notification systems fail non-English-speaking residents, people with disabilities, and those without smartphones. We will overhaul NotifyLA and the city's emergency communication infrastructure by implementing multilingual outreach, accessibility standards, and partnerships with trusted community organizations that can reach people the city can't.
Explore moving the Emergency Management Department under the Fire Department to improve coordination, reduce duplication, and ensure adequate staffing. We owe it to our first responders to protect them and ensure they are under a more formal structure where there is improved communication with LAFD.
Implementation, Accountability, and Partnership
The problem
"This is not fine." That was the title of the Los Angeles City Controller's report calling for an urgent reboot of the city's climate plan. The Controller found that the city was tracking completed tasks rather than emissions reduced, and was using vague scores like "on track" instead of hard data. Three years later, climate organizations across the city say the same problems define City Hall’s new Climate Action Plan. It lacks the baselines, sources, metrics, and public transparency needed to follow through on its promises. We do not have the systems to hold departments accountable when they fall behind. The climate, environmental justice, and community organizations that know this terrain better than anyone are too often consulted after a plan is written, rather than during its development. And regional partners such as the air quality district, the county, and neighboring cities should be included in a broader regional solution.
Our plan
Deliver a trackable, accountable Climate Action Plan that also meets the C40 climate action planning framework. We will publish a CAP that includes a comprehensive sector-by-sector GHG inventory, evidence-based reduction targets with stated baselines, clear implementation timelines, identified funding sources, and a transparent measurement methodology for each, with meaningful community engagement.
Publish a public climate dashboard. Every target in the CAP will be tracked in an accessible dashboard that's updated quarterly, and department heads' performance evaluations will include their progress against their targets. When targets are missed, the responsible office will be required to publish a corrective plan.
Make the city budget a climate priorities document: The city’s $14 billion annual budget is an expression of the city's priorities. We will ensure our operating and capital investments are working to clean our air and saving Angelenos money on their energy and water bills.
Turn the clean energy transition into an economic opportunity for Angelenos. The shift to clean energy will create thousands of installation, maintenance, and retrofit jobs. We will expand workforce development programs, partner with unions and community colleges, and prioritize hiring from the neighborhoods most affected by pollution.
Establish a formal LA Climate & Environmental Justice Advisory Board. The city will convene a standing coalition of climate, environmental justice, labor, public health, and community organizations. These groups deserve a seat at the table when implementation decisions are being made and a formal role in monitoring implementation and evaluating progress.
Strengthen regional partnerships. The city's biggest climate challenges cannot be solved at the city line. We will commit to active leadership with strategic board appointments at SCAG, the South Coast AQMD, the Metropolitan Water District, and LA Metro. We will work with the State, the County, and neighboring cities, with a designated senior staff member in the Mayor's office responsible for regional climate coordination.
Support a phased divestment of city pension funds from fossil fuels. Los Angeles' public pension funds together hold billions of dollars in assets, including substantial investments in fossil fuel companies. We will champion a phased divestment from fossil fuels, consistent with the funds' duty to retirees.