Coal is Too Dirty for LA: End Our Reliance on This Dirty Energy Source by 2020

We the undersigned,

We respectfully request that you formally commit to moving Los Angeles beyond coal by 2020.  As you know, coal is one of the dirtiest forms of energy and a major contributor to global climate change.  In 2007, over 35% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions came from the combustion of this dirty fuel. 

As a resident of Los Angeles, I have a stake in the way we choose to rebuild the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest publicly owned municipal utility in the nation. 

Currently, the city of Los Angeles owns shares in two coal plants: Navajo and Intermountain Power Project.  In 2006, Navajo Generating Station and Intermountain Power Project released a combined total of 36,107,111 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.  The Navajo generating station alone uses 8 million tons of coal a year which translates into 25,000 tons of coal per day when all units are fully running. Additionally, each year the plant uses nearly 8 billion gallons of water from Lake Powell for cooling -  a shocking number in water starved Los Angeles.  Our dependence on coal is responsible for significant pollution and human health impacts at every phase of its life cycle.

Los Angeles has a responsibility to leave a legacy of leadership to our children and grandchildren.  We must rebuild Los Angeles in a way that will protect us from the true cost of coal: polluted rivers and fish, increased asthma rates and health related issues, waste of billions of gallons of fresh water to cool coal plants, and the destruction of eco-systems through strip-mining, coal-slurries, and mountain-top removal.

We can address these ethical and moral concerns by doing our part - moving Los Angeles away from burning coal. 

The need for action to address global climate change, pollution, water resource protection and sustainability has never been more urgent.  There is no better opportunity for Los Angeles to demonstrate its leadership in the area of sustainability than to take action now:

• Put into action a plan for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to stop burning coal by 2020. 
• We ask that this plan include transparency, public input and hearings, and include public-private partnerships to ensure the lowest possible increases in rates through healthy competition.    
• Create an Integrated Resource Plan that shows how we will reach the goal of 40% renewable energy by 2020
• And Finally, fully fund the plan through upcoming budgets

Los Angeles cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the pollution we are exporting to other states.  We must seize the opportunity to build a clean and renewable energy future that will stabilize our electricity rates over the long haul %u2013 because once the system is paid for the sun and wind are free. 

Los Angeles must be a leader in meeting the challenges of today.

We the undersigned, respectfully ask you to fulfill these principles by leading Los Angeles towards a 100 percent clean energy future - one that will create jobs, sustain economic growth and protect our health, safety and environment. Let us be leaders in Los Angeles and lead the way on sustainability not only in our city, but for the rest of the nation.