Los Angeles Phasing Out Coal Power by 2020
Did you know that California doesn't have any coal-fired power plants? It's true! Yet Los Angeles still gets 40 percent of its power from coal...for now. But the good news is that the Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, announced that by 2020 the city will no longer use coal power. At all. Says Reuters:
"LADWP [Los Angeles Department of Water and Power] will deliver 40 percent renewable power, with the remainder coming from natural gas, nuclear, and large hydroelectric," said Villaraigosa. Coal and natural gas-fired power now account for 76 percent of the electricity delivered by the LADWP. By 2020, the LADWP expects to cut its carbon emissions by up to 60 percent from 1990 levels, according to the mayor's office. Villaraigosa said the LADWP will meet its goal of getting 20 percent of its power from renewables by 2010.
Villaraigosa did concede that consumer would see higher electric bills to account for the switch to going green. Yet Deputy Mayor David Freeman stated that the "costs to society," such as medical costs for pollution-related illnesses, will drop.
Well, usually we talk about how going green will save money, but here's an instance where right off the bat we're being told that's not the case. My guess is that the cost per household would be minimal, but I wonder how unhappy people will be to hear about this in times where money's already tight. Are people going to be willing to pay a little bit more to live in a cleaner Los Angeles?
photo credit: Todd Jones Photography's flickr photostream/Creative Commons
- Categories: Environment
Actually and unfortunately, California has coal plants. They are owned by Independent Power Producers and not Utilities.
I am very happy to hear that Villaraigosa is taking this step. Going green will not result in savings in every area. I highly doubt that the price of renewables will come down to the price of coal, which is very cheap. What we need to do is create incentives through taxes and regulation to make electricity generated from coal more expensive. We need to include the full cost - not just the upfront expenses of the obtaining the source, but the environmental and health effects as well.