LA’s Own Green New Deal Requires Expensive Transportation Overhauls
By Michael McGrady
Following in the footsteps of New York City, the city of Los Angeles announced its own Green New Deal proposal to fight climate change. Dubbed the “pLAn” by Mayor Eric Garcetti, this proposal sets sustainability and environmental-friendliness requirements for virtually every aspect of LA society.
“With flames on our hillsides and floods in our streets, cities cannot wait another moment to confront the climate crisis with everything we’ve got,” Garcetti said in a statement.
LA’s version of the Green New Deal has two simultaneous goals: to achieve the climate targets outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement and to address economic inequality through a plethora of social programs. Garcetti believes the proposal will make Los Angeles emissions-free by 2050, a timeline similar to New York City’s climate justice overhaul known as the OneNYC 2050 initiative.
One particularly ambitious proposal pointed out by Curbed Los Angeles is the goal of getting Angelenos to drive fewer than six miles a day. These mandates are laid out in a white paper on the proposal provided by Garcetti’s office . . .
While it is essential for large cities to have multimodal transportation strategies, the expectations that drastically changing transit methods in a short period provide cases for concern. Pacific Research Institute senior fellow Wayne Winegarden told Inside Sources that the proposal is a misguided attempt at resolving immediate issues.
“Both NYC and LA are implementing policies that are technologically unfeasible,” Winegarden said, speaking of both plans the cities have proposed. “As a result it will make these already excessively expensive cities even less affordable, harming the poor the most. What’s worse, while these cities see themselves as global trendsetters, the reality is their actions will not impact global emissions at all. These are all pain no gain policies.”
Considering Winegarden’s position, other aspects of the transportation strategy outlined in the LA Green New Deal could be especially cost prohibitive . . .
