Mayor Villaraigosa Pledges to Make LA Coal Free by 2020

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had his second inauguration yesterday, at which he pledged to make L.A. a coal free city by 2020. This will be no small feat since DWP, which provides power to much of LA, is one of the largest users of coal in the state. In fact they get 40% of their power from coal. If he is successful in changing that, it will be a major accomplishment in clean energy for the state. Here is the relevant excerpt from the speech:

"At the center of our economic strategy is our green agenda. Angelenos, there are two shades of green, and they go together beautifully in L.A.!

We know that in the decade to come entire industries will come into being answering the riddle of how America can more sustainably meet its energy needs.

We know our very future depends on advances in conservation, solar, wind, and geothermal energy. We know economic growth and environmental innovation must be seen as fingers on the same hand.

Within walking distance from here, our clean-tech corridor will put L.A. on the international map as a center of green jobs and innovation as home to our best minds, a partnership between world-class universities and emerging industries and a leading incubator for President Obama's economic vision of green jobs at good pay.

And we know never to lose sight of our successful effort to put L.A. at the forefront in the fight against climate change. In the last four years, we quadrupled our renewable energy portfolio. We've removed 2,000 dirty diesel trucks from the port and sent them to the junkyard. And we've left much of the world in the dust by beating the Kyoto targets four years ahead of schedule.

It's now time to meet the carbon challenge. Our second goal for the next four years is to put L.A. on a path to permanently break our addiction to coal. Coal currently accounts for roughly 40% of the DWP's power portfolio. Breaking the coal habit is a long term proposition demanding a long-term commitment. It's going to require investment from ratepayers. Our future depends on pricing power in relation to the environmental cost.

During my first term, we set high standards for green development and we've taken action to meet them. Los Angeles will get 20% of its energy from renewable sources by next year. We rolled out the most far reaching green building standards of any big city in America.

And this month, the largest city-owned wind farm will start delivering clean power to L.A.'s families. Moving forward we're aiming to get 40% of our power from renewable sources by 2020 and go 60% carbon-free by the end of the next decade.

Today, I am directing the CEO of the Department of Water and Power to take every action necessary to reach these goals and eliminate the use of coal by 2020. Meanwhile, we're going to move beyond the clean air action plan - the most aggressive effort to cut emissions at any port worldwide. We are going to electrify goods movement at our harbor.

We're going to make L.A. plug-in ready, aimed at making our city a national hub of the electric vehicle market.

And we're going to say to every household and every family. This is the time to power our future with conservation and alternative energy.

This is the time to stand at the forefront of the green revolution. This is the time to build a future founded on innovation and defined by our commitment to building a more sustainable and livable Los Angeles."