The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors this week joined other counties, states and cities in support of the goals of the Paris Climate Accord.
Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis recommended registering the county with the We Are Still In coalition, saying impacts of human-driven climate change will include less frequent but more intense rainstorms, more frequent and longer droughts, increased wildland fires and urban forest die-offs, more vector-borne disease, rising seas, lower air quality and longer and hotter heat waves.
“The federal government has now abdicated leadership on this issue, increasing the importance of local action in avoiding the most dangerous and costly effects of climate change,’’ Kuehl and Solis said in their motion. “That is why over 2,300 governors, county officials, mayors, city councils, businesses and other entities from across the United States, representing over half of the U.S. population, have signed the We Are Still In declaration to demonstrate their intent to continue to ensure that the U.S. population remains a global leader in reducing emissions.’’
The Paris Accord, reached in December 2015, represents a commitment to enact programs to limit global temperature increases to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Ten states have signed onto the We Are Still In coalition: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington. The nearly 250 cities that have signed on include the 10 largest municipalities in America.
The supervisors’ unanimous vote also directs staffers to inventory the county’s greenhouse gas emissions and reset future emissions targets. In 2015, the county adopted a plan to cut emissions by 11 percent from 2010 levels by 2020.
The board also plans to accelerate the implementation of relevant policies that promote renewable energy and reduce transportation emissions as a result of the vote.
