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posted by cmn32480 on Sunday April 12 2015, @12:16PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-future's-so-bright... dept.

The Center for American Progress reports

On [April 8], L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti released an ambitious plan that puts environmental, economic, and equality issues front and center in helping determine the trajectory of the city, which plans to add another half-million residents by 2035.

[...]A few of the plan's highlights include: becoming "the first big city in the nation to achieve zero waste" by 2025, fully divesting from coal-powered electricity by 2025, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, having zero smog days by 2025, and making it so that 50 percent of all trips taken by city residents are by bike, foot, or public transportation by 2035. The plan also makes commitments to reduce energy use in all buildings by 30 percent by 2035.

[...]The plan calls for a reduction of the urban heat island effect differential--the difference between the temperature of the city and the surrounding area--by 1.7°F by 2025 and 3°F by 2035.

[...]20 percent of L.A. is covered in rooftops and 40 percent in pavement of some form. Changing the reflective capacity of these areas and adding more greenspace will play a big role in reducing the heat island effect. [Executive director of the L.A.-based Climate Resolve and a former commissioner at the L.A. Department of Water and Power, Jonathan Parfrey] and other city officials have already been pushing for these changes. In December 2013, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a building code update requiring all new and refurbished homes to have cool roofs--which use sunlight-reflecting materials--making L.A. the first major city to require such a measure.

[...]The city's new sustainability plans calls for 10,000 of these cool roofs to be in place by 2017.

The full plan spans 108 pages, covering everything from reducing potable water use by 10 percent in city parks to ensuring that 50 percent of the city's light-duty vehicle purchases are electric vehicles by 2025. With the drought in full swing and no reason to believe that prayers for rain will bring lasting results, the city is hoping to reduce overall municipal water use by 25 percent by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030.

 
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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 12 2015, @08:17PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 12 2015, @08:17PM (#169395)

    Take a trip to L.A. County and see what traveling in a car is like in SoCal.
    Sitting in stop-and-go "rush" hour traffic, averaging 4mph completely sucks.

    ...and once you get to your "destination", you have to find a parking spot and walk from the parking area to your actual destination anyway.
    If your stay is very long, you may have to walk back and feed the meter.
    With a bike, you can "park" for free a few feet from the door.

    L.A. County has built a bunch of electric light rail [la-electric-travel.com] and continues [wikimedia.org] on its plan to blanket the place with convenient mass transit. [laweekly.com]

    I have taken the Green Line in Los Angeles County to within a few blocks of the airport; a gratis shuttle bus from there.
    That light rail line parallels the Century Freeway between the 605 and LAX.
    What struck me most about the experience was looking over at the stalled bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 105 as we zipped right past it.

    You can take your bicycle with you on the train.
    City buses also have racks on the front to carry bikes.

    The concrete ditches that are rivers in SoCal have bike trails alongside them.

    There have also been some efforts made at bike rental schemes that have met with mixed success so far.

    If cities construct more bike paths and invest in greenbelts, cars and parking become less and less attractive.

    -- gewg_

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  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday April 13 2015, @01:16AM

    by kaszz (4211) on Monday April 13 2015, @01:16AM (#169490) Journal

    So if LA is blanketed with light rail. Everything is fine and a bright future is ahead?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2015, @03:01AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 13 2015, @03:01AM (#169525)

      For starters, imagine that everyone agreed to not drive 1 weekday each week.
      That's a 20 percent reduction in rush hour traffic every day.
      I've heard experts say that's all it would take to get traffic moving.
      ...and as I said, when riding the train during rush hour, we were passing the car traffic.

      It's not a cure for every problem, but it's a pretty great start.

      -- gewg_