Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass rolled out what she billed as a brand-new climate plan Thursday – but much of it turns out to be recycled.
The sweeping blueprint is supposed to slash emissions, expand renewable energy and reshape how Angelenos live, travel and use water. She claimed Los Los Angeles would be carbon neutral by 2045, double local solar production and install 120,000 electric vehicle chargers across the city.
“We’ve already made L.A. coal-free, opened one of the largest solar and battery storage facilities in the country, and doubled the number of EV chargers,” Bass said.
“With this plan, we’re doubling down on that progress and moving full steam ahead to clean our air, create green jobs, and build a more sustainable city.”
Mayor Bass speaks at a podium with “Climate Action Plan for Los Angeles” written on it, surrounded by city officials and construction workers. Karen BassBut while Bass was pitching it outside the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys as a major leap forward, many of the headline targets have actually been underway since 2019.
Core commitments like hitting 100 percent clean energy, cutting water use and electrifying public transit were all set well before Bass took office.
Even marquee pieces of the plan, including phasing out urban oil drilling and slashing emissions from the Port of Los Angeles, have long been city policy.
Digital rendering of the planned advanced water purification facility at Los Angeles’ Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant.
The package reads more like a rebranding of existing climate goals rather than the sweeping reset City Hall is selling.
There are some new elements, including a dramatic increase in the city’s electric vehicle charger target and tougher standards aimed at cutting the carbon footprint of building materials.
City Hall says the plan builds on the so-called L.A. “Green New Deal” introduced by former mayor Eric Garcetti in 2019, and includes more than 50 actions across 14 broad objectives.
But several of the key pillars touted in the rollout were already in place.
Plans to electrify all Los Angeles Department of Transportation buses by 2028, ramp up renewable energy to 100 percent by 2035, and deploy zero-emission trucks at the Port of Los Angeles have all been part of existing policy frameworks for years.
The city had also already moved to ban new oil and gas drilling in 2022 and phase out existing wells over time.
Tertiary treatment at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Los Angeles. AP
An electric vehicle charging at an EVgo station in Monrovia, California. Getty ImagesSupporters rushed to praise the plan as forward-looking and necessary.
“At the rate we’re going, we will meet our goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2035,” said Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, chair of the council’s Energy and Environment Committee.
“Access to clean water is a fundamental right,” added Councilmember Imelda Padilla, pointing to investments in water recycling and infrastructure.
Bass also used the rollout to highlight past environmental wins, including eliminating coal from the city’s power supply and launching one of the nation’s largest solar and battery storage projects.
What remains unclear is how much the sweeping agenda will cost — a figure the administration did not provide.
The mayor spoke at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, where a recycling project is currently under construction.
Illustration of an advanced water purification facility with a worker in an orange vest.
A blue and orange sign announcing the Los Angeles Groundwater Replenishment Project, with the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in the background. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Construction at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, CA. Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesThe rollout comes as Bass gears up for a reelection fight, with reality television star Spencer Pratt and councilmember Nithya Raman positioning themselves as challengers.
The Post reached out to Raman and Pratt’s campaigns, along with the mayor’s office, for comment.
The mayor’s 14 point plan includes:
- Deliver clean, affordable energy to every Angeleno by expanding renewable energy, rooftop solar, community solar, and battery storage to lower utility bills, improve reliability, and cut emissions. This includes increasing renewable energy to 80% by 2030 and 100% by 2035.
- Make buildings carbon-free by improving efficiency, electrifying homes, and setting strong performance standards to cut energy costs, improve indoor air quality, and reduce pollution.
- Accelerate the shift to a zero-emissions, connected, and equitable transportation system so getting around is cleaner, cheaper, and healthier for all Angelenos. This would include converting all of the L.A. Department of Transportation buses to electric by 2028 and installing 120,000 new electric vehicle chargers by 2030.
- Reduce transportation-related emissions by promoting walkable neighborhoods and alternate forms of transportation like biking, matched rides, or public transit use by 24% by 2035 to reduce car trips.
- Cut pollution from goods movement and major transportation hubs to protect the health of communities near ports, airports, and freeways. This includes working with airlines and fuel suppliers at LAX and Van Nuys Airport to increase the use of sustainable fuel by 28% by 2030. In addition, reduce port-related greenhouse gas emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. And allocate $200 million on zero-emission truck and infrastructure incentives by 2028 to ensure the Port of Los Angeles will achieve 100% zero-emission drayage trucks by 2035.
- Enhance and connect green spaces and ecosystems across the city to strengthen neighborhood resilience, restore biodiversity, and promote wellbeing for people and nature. It would include establishing five new parks by 2030 and 10 by 2035, and increase the city’s tree canopy across the city to 25% by 2035.
- Reduce risks from extreme heat, drought, wildfire, and flooding by scaling nature-based solutions, green infrastructure, and community-driven strategies that make neighborhoods safer, healthier, and more resilient. It includes implement fire-resistant construction and site standards in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones, and ensure public facilities incorporate resilient, fire-safe design and defensible space.
- Phase out urban oil and gas drilling and clean up sites so land can be safely reused for housing, parks, and community benefit. Passing a new ordinance this year to prohibit new oil and gas drilling, and creating a process to end current oil and gas extraction in the city.
- Ensure sustainable and equitable water systems through conservation, stormwater capture, and recycled water to secure local and reliable supplies, protect ecosystems, and support community resilience. Increasing L.A.’s use of local water so the city is 70% locally reliant by 2035, and reducing average per-person water use 25% by 2035.
- Advance a zero-waste, circular economy by reducing trash, composting organics, and reusing materials to cut pollution, save resources, and reduce emissions. The plan includes phasing out of single-use plastics by 2032.
- Create high-road green jobs and expand access to training and apprenticeships that provide stable careers, family-sustaining wages, and pathways into the green economy for all Angelenos as we move toward a climate-resilient future. This includes increasing green jobs to 165,000 by 2028, 220,000 by 2030, and 320,000 by 2035 through City programs, from a baseline of 118,000 in 2026.
- Grow Los Angeles’ green business sector by encouraging private investment, sustainable practices, and entrepreneurship that keep wealth and opportunity in our communities.
- Make the 2028 Games and other major events models of sustainability through ambitious goals for clean energy, water, transportation, waste, and heat protection to leave a lasting legacy of cleaner air, greener infrastructure, and healthier communities.
- Create a lasting climate legacy from megaevents by embedding sustainability, equity, and resilience practices into City policies, programs, and partnerships — ensuring that Los Angeles’ role as host strengthens long-term climate leadership, community benefits and global influence. It would include integrating shade structures, new shade trees, hydration stations, misting fans, and other functional cooling strategies around Olympic & Paralympic venues and community events by 2028.
However, many of these aren’t new, despite being presented as historic today by Bass.
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1. 80% renewable by 2030 / 100% by 2035. First announced in 2021.
2. Double local solar capacity is new. Increasing solar use was originally announced in 2019.
3. Zero-emission trucks at Port of LA – this isn’t new. It’s already core to the Clean Air Action Plan at the Port of LA.
4. 15% building efficiency increase -isn’t new, but the plan now adds a target date.
A green and blue electric DASH bus drives on a Los Angeles street, with the white Los Angeles City Hall building in the background. AP
A Tellus Power EV charger between a Volvo VNR electric truck and a second generation BYD 8TT electric semi truck. Bloomberg via Getty Images5. 40% lower carbon building materials. This is new. Embodied carbon targets are emerging but not previously codified at this scale in LA.
6. LADOT(LA Department of Transportation) is already committed to electric buses by 2028.
7. 120,000 EV chargers – this is particularly new. The goal prior was much lower.
8. Ban new drilling + phase out oil and gas is not new, it was passed by the LA City Council in 2022.
9. 25% tree canopy – this is not new, it’s been flagged before by the LA urban forestry goal.
10. 25% reduction in water use. Core target set in the 2019 LA Green New Deal.
11. LA to be 70% reliant on local water and stormwater capture.
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