Climate Change and Sustainability

An interview with Krista Kline of Los Angeles Regional Committee (LARC) for Climate Change and Sustainability

By Tracey Dunn with thanks to Sarah Ryan - 22/8/2013

As fracking in the UK becomes a major issue http://frack-off.org.uk/fracking-hell/ it is timely to interview Krista Kline from LARC who recently visited Liverpool. Krista was here for a Low Carbon Liverpool conference to talk about what Los Angeles is doing for a sustainable future.

I asked her some questions and I have added some thoughts at the end of the Q&A.

What inspired you most about Liverpool and its efforts to deal with climate change and sustainability?

I was inspired by the leadership and support of the businesses and economic development sector with the Liverpool Green Partnership effort. Ensuring that our mitigation and adaptation work in addressing climate change is also an economic win is incredibly important for the longevity and success of our efforts. The economic sector is relevant to the climate change discussion and solution - in our efforts to reduce greenhouse gases (though our utilities) as well as in our effort to adapt to some of the changes we are already experiencing, through new technologies to clean our water, make our lighting more efficient, improve our buildings, develop new battery/storage technologies…the list goes on and on.

What do you think LA does best?

Los Angeles is addressing sustainability and climate change on multiple fronts. We are a region of 88 cities, as well as a county government. And we exist in a State that is leading the nation on mitigating and adapting to climate change, with the passage of Assembly Bill 32 in 2006. Los Angeles currently uses the same amount of water as it did in the 1980’s, and we’ve added over a million people to the region. We did this through conservation efforts. We are building a public transportation system for the region – and we are taxing ourselves to accomplish it! (Measure R, a 30-year sales tax, was passed by LA County voters in 2008). We are also beginning to build out an electric vehicle charging network. The City of Los Angeles’s recycling rate is over 70% diversion from the landfill. In the City of Los Angeles, we will be off coal by 2020; and in the County of Los Angeles, we are off nuclear power as of this summer. We are encouraging more in-basin solar installations through feed-in-tariff programs, and requiring new buildings to be “solar ready.” Our green building codes are among the most stringent in the nation. We are also performing some of the most innovative climate research in the world, by modelling climate effects down to a very granular localized level. This has given us incredibly useful information about the climate change impacts we will be feeling in the future. This research is being done at the University of California, Los Angeles in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, by Dr. Alex Hall and his staff. One of the missions of the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability (LARC) is to bring this research to local policy-makers so that they can make more informed decisions about their climate adaption efforts.

What could LA be doing to improve its green credentials?

Communicate our successes more effectively! Clearly folks do not know all of the great work we are doing here in the LA region to be more sustainable. Because we are a region of 88 cities, and a county government, we tend to be at all levels of response in dealing with climate change. And sometimes we don’t talk amongst ourselves about our efforts, including the great climate research being done here at a very granular level! This is one of the reasons that the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability (LARC for short!) was created. LARC is a membership organization that bridges regional climate research and information management systems to local decision- and policy-makers. We also connect all of these entities to best practices in climate mitigation and adaptation efforts happening throughout the region so everyone can learn from one another and we can leverage limited planning and implementation resources. We are also building the capacity of our members to train government staff working on these issues, and to reach out to and educate the public about climate change in our region, why it matters to them, and what they can do about it as individuals.

What new green jobs are being planned for Los Angeles?

We’ve just had the groundbreaking on our Clean Tech Innovation Campus. Plans for the Campus include a 30,000 square foot home for the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), cleantech demonstration centers, Research & Development labs, conference facilities, work force training facilities as well as space for more mature cleantech companies. In other words, we are building a facility to house Research & Development, education, and businesses together under one roof. Companies include those working on energy, power systems, waste recovery and recycling, lighting, sensors, batteries and energy storage, among others. In addition, because of state and local legislation around greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements, renewable energy, green building, water conservation, and urban runoff – we are seeing an increase in companies offering new technologies. These companies range from solar installers to battery manufacturers and beyond.

What importance should be given to transport choices in relation to climate change and sustainability?

Transportation is an incredibly important piece of the climate change puzzle. According to the California Air Resources Board, the transportation sector accounted for 38% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the State of California in 2010. In California, since the 1960’s, we have set the strictest emission standards in the nation. Since 2006, with the adoption of AB 32, the state has also set emission caps on greenhouse gases. In January 2012, the Air Resources Board approved a new emissions-control program for model years 2017 through 2025. The program combines the control of smog, soot and global warming gases and requirements for greater numbers of zero-emission vehicles into a single package of standards called Advanced Clean Cars. As a result, we will achieve significant reductions of greenhouse gas and smog emissions from California’s cars and light-duty trucks. The number of plug-in hybrid cars and zero-emission vehicles on California’s roads and highways will increase and fuels, such as electricity and hydrogen, will be readily be available for these new vehicle technologies. In addition, County of Los Angeles voters approved a sales tax increase in 2008 to pay for public transportation and roadway improvements to ease traffic congestion in the region. In the first full year of implementation, local jurisdictions are expected to receive a total of over $100 million for their transportation needs. These funds may be put to work by cities for projects such as pothole repairs, major street resurfacing, left-turn signals, bikeways, pedestrian improvements, streetscapes, traffic signal synchronization and local transit services. The remaining Measure R funds will finance dozens of new transit and highway projects countywide and accelerate those already in the pipeline. The public transportation system will cover the region of 4,752 square miles (12,308 square kilometers) and a population of 9.9 million people.

Conclusion

Issues of Climate Change cannot come about without the participation of Industry/Businesses who are responsible for emissions etc. and need incentives to change manufacturing/business practises to incorporate greener ways of working.

Here in Liverpool we have an airport that the Council are keen to expand and we also have Ellesmere Port down the River belching out tonnes of toxic chemicals. There are many clusters of cancer around there.

It is great that all new builds in LA have to be solar ready and agree to stringent green requirements. We had/have the opportunity in Liverpool to make thousands of old tinned up terraced houses sustainable for under £20,000 each. It looks like most of them will be demolished instead and cheap red brick boxes, leaching salty looking deposits before they're even finished, will be erected instead without a solar panel or mini wind turbine between them.

It is good news that there is no nuclear energy allowed in the County of LA. Here in the UK the government are very keen to build new nuclear power stations.

We need to persuade the US government as a whole to take their responsibility for Climate Change and work with other countries to promote it actively. Why do they still refuse to sign the Kyoto Agreement? news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4077137.stm (2004)

We need to escape the stranglehold of multinational companies e.g. Esso, Shell and BP who determine government policies on Climate Change and sustainability in support of their own financial gain.

We need to get a grip on our conspicuous consumption. We have turned shopping into a lifestyle choice and are manufacturing and distributing way too much stuff. The amount of oil we access to do this is obscene and responsible for many of today's wars. I don't believe business should be a priority but the protection of the environment. Big Business often just seems to line the pockets of the owners rather than help support social issues. LUSH cosmetics is a company that actually sponsors 'FRACK OFF' www.lush.co.uk/frack-off

Liverpool City Council could be challenging Central Government to regulate our extortionate rents, house prices and utility companies. They could also support more social housing. Most people seem to be trapped in a cycle of working just to live. We need to address the whole concept of 'work' as many jobs just seem pointless and destructive to the environment and our health www.strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs

There were talks of utilizing the tidal energy here in Liverpool from the river but this seems to be on hold. www.merseytidalpower.co.uk

We have Cammell Laird Shipbuilders www.clbh.co.uk on the River Mersey and could build more ships rather than continue road building. There are many canals that could take lorries off the roads.

Liverpool City Council still see car manufacturing as a priority and are trying to get 1,000 new jobs in the car industry here by building extremely polluting 4X4 gas guzzlers Land Rovers. www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

Regarding electric cars, the new technology is expensive and out of most people's price range. There are not enough financial incentives to encourage people to convert their cars/energy supplies especially during a 'recession'.

Liverpool City Council are bringing back a car hire club and there will be a proportion of electric cars and chargers www.liverpoolconfidential.co.uk

The Public Transport in Liverpool is expensive and people I know find it cheaper to drive than use it. In London there are 'Oyster cards' which half the price of a journey. We have been told the similar 'Walrus' card will be available here next year.

It would be good for us to have more opportunities to be in nature. We could walk or cycle more. I would like to see more trees planted and all our green spaces kept. They shouldn't be sold off by the council for executive housing or shopping centres. We need more allotments and community gardens where people can grow organic food for the free consumption by locals. In Todmorden Yorkshire the whole town is full of free food grown in public places www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk

We need to make way more effort to make our businesses sustainable and put 'People Before Profits'.

Relevant Websites and Articles

www.citiesforpeople.net - A city for people not cars Curitiba, Brazil

www.zerocarbonbritain.org

www.cat.org.uk - Centre for alternative technology's (CAT) new report

www.rtcc.org - Solar powered car

www.collective-evolution.com - Mushrooms could be the new plastic

www.gov.uk - Investments in wind power in the UK

www.wdm.org.uk - 1/3 of government ministers linked to companies fuelling climate change

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