Los Angeles Councilwoman Nithya Raman Tuesday introduced a resolution to have the city formally support legislation that would get California to 100% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030.
“We know that gasoline-powered vehicles are unequivocally worsening the climate crisis,” Raman said. “In Los Angeles — a city notorious for its reliance on cars — it is imperative that we take immediate action to decrease greenhouse-gas emissions and model leadership in boldly pursuing a sustainable, green economy. Widespread adoption of zero-emission vehicles is not only a necessary step to avert climate disaster, it will also reduce pollution, improving LA’s air quality and saving lives.”
If the full City Council approves the resolution, the city would follow Berkeley, Culver City, Hayward, Oakland, Richmond, San Leandro and Mountain View in calling for 100% zero-emission vehicle sales in the state by 2030, according to the resolution.
The resolution also notes that zero-emission vehicle sales in the state have increased by 3,000% since 2012, going from 25,000 sold to 763,815 sold in 2020.
“Given the insane escalation of climate-exacerbated flooding and wildfires going on around the world just in the last month, halting the sales of gasoline vehicles tomorrow wouldn’t be too soon. If you have lung cancer, you stop smoking. If your planet is dangerously overheating, you stop pouring gasoline on it,” said Councilman Paul Koretz, who seconded the resolution.
“Asking Governor Newsom to move his goal to phase out the sale of new gas cars from 2035 to 2030 makes perfect sense, particularly since electric vehicles are expected to reach price parity with gas cars in the next two years and then be cheaper going forward,” Koretz said.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Aug. 5 to set the U.S. on a path to have half of all new vehicles purchased by 2030 be electric. The following day, Los Angeles Councilmen Mitch O’Farrell and Paul Krekorian introduced a motion to have the city create a master plan for electric vehicle infrastructure citywide.
That motion, if passed by the City Council, would instruct the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to lead in the creation of a citywide Electric Vehicle Master Plan, which would include provisions to maximize federal and state funding to ensure that electric vehicle infrastructure is equitably placed across Los Angeles.
The LADWP’s mater plan would also include incentives for residential, commercial and industrial customers to add electric vehicle chargers.
Los Angeles passed its own Green New Deal in 2019, and by 2020, surpassed its goal of installing 10,000 commercial electric vehicle chargers throughout the city, two years earlier than the timeline in the Green New Deal.
The city has about 11,045 commercial charging stations and is on track to reach 25,000 by 2025 and 28,000 by 2028.
