On February 6, the Los Angeles City Council adopted a resolution targeting drastic cuts to greenhouse gas emissions from commercial and residential buildings—the latest step by the nation’s second-largest city to shrink the environmental footprint of its built environment.
The measure gives L.A.’s Building and Safety Department and the Department of Water and Power (DWP) 90 days to recommend methods for reducing reliance on natural gas and shifting toward electricity from clean sources for heating, water heating, and cooking; and requires DWP to set ambitious goals for building electrification in 2028 and 2038. The targets are in line with mayor Eric Garcetti’s aggressive sustainability plan, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent before 2035. “Our vision for L.A. is to be fossil fuel-free, and we need building electrification to make this vision a reality,” says Lauren Faber O’Connor, L.A.’s chief sustainability officer. Currently, the L.A. region burns more fossil fuels in its buildings than in its power plants.
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