(Councilmember Nazarian, with ASL interpreter, at opening of North Hollywood Central Groundwater Treatment Plant.)
CLEAN ENERGY
As Chair of the Council’s Energy and Environment Committee, I’m building on ten years of work I did in the State Assembly to protect our air, water and other natural resources.
Here in Los Angeles, we are committed to the goal of 100-percent carbon-free electrical generation by the year 2035. Our progress towards this goal provides a practical model for other cities and countries to emulate.
Back in 2000, 95 percent of our electricity was generated by burning fossil fuels and zero percent came from renewable energy sources. As late as 2003, more than 50 percent of our city’s energy came from burning coal, the dirtiest energy source of all. As of this year, our electrical generation is 60 percent carbon-free, 41 percent renewable and zero percent coal.
Our system is not only cleaner than ever, it is more resilient. In 2025, Mayor Bass and I cut the ribbon on the Eland Solar-plus-Storage Center in Mojave. This facility, as big as 13 Dodger Stadiums, can store enough energy to power 266,000 Los Angeles homes for each year, and is available to reinforce our power grid during times of excessive demand.
These changes don't just improve the quality of the air we breathe, they reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet and increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
(Announcing LADWP reaching its goal of a 100 percent coal-free generating system.)
COOLER STREETS
By 2025 it's projected that Angelenos will experience temperatures of 92 degree or higher an average of 26 days a year. I’ve asked the Climate Emergency Mobilization office to work with Shade LA to identify how we can best retain existing shade, and expand access to shade and hydration throughout the City, especially in historically underserved communities that are typically poor in shade and prone to the “heat island” effect. I’m also pursuing my Hydration Station initiative, because access to clean drinking water helps our people to resist extreme wheat while reducing litter and pollution from single-use plastic water bottles.
(Planting sidewalk trees in Studio City.)
THE AIR YOU BREATHE
In addition to my Council duties, I serve as the San Fernando Valley’s representative on the board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the regulatory agency responsible for air quality in four counties that house 44 percent of California’s population.
As an asthmatic, I remember the miserable air quality our region experienced when I was growing up in the San Fernando Valley. Cleaner energy, along with California’s tougher emission standards for motor vehicles, have greatly improved our air since then, but there’s more to be done.
After a protracted court fight, Los Angeles is bringing an end to oil and gas drilling within the city limits and capping the remaining wells. These drilling sites, many located in lower income areas and communities of color, produce an insignificant amount of our regional oil supply while releasing toxic chemicals into the air and soil of these neighborhoods. A court decision struck down the City’s previous attempt to end drilling in the city limits, but our revised ordinance achieves this goal while complying with all judicial rulings.
Here in District 2, we’re promoting personal respiratory health with our annual Lung Day celebration, providing free lung exams and distributing free air purifiers.
The biggest thing we can do to improve air quality in Los Angeles is to get more cars off the road. That’s why I’m advocating for public transit projects like the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail, the Sepulveda Transit Corridor and the all-electric North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit line.
(Arriving by helicopter for an inspection tour of Mono Lake.)
PROTECTING OUR WATER SUPPLY
Nothing is more important than ensuring that you and your family have clean water when you turn on the tap and that our firefighters have enough water when they open the hydrant.
Right now Los Angeles imports more than 70 percent of its water. We plan to turn that around and produce 70 percent of our water locally. A first step we can take is to capture more rainwater instead of letting it run out to sea. We’re currently building five stormwater capture projects at City parks in District 2: Strathern Park North, Valley Plaza Park North, Valley Plaza Park South, Valley Village Park and the Whitsett Sports Complex. While we’re at it, these parks are getting upgrades and new recreational features. Along with two additional facilities in adjoining districts, these projects are expected to capture nearly 571 million gallons a year— picture 1,752 football fields a foot deep in water.
We’ve also opened two new groundwater treatment facilities in this district to cleanse our groundwater of contaminants that infiltrated the system in past decades when the Valley was a home to heavy industry. The treatment centers at North Hollywood West and North Hollywood Central, along with a third being built in Sun Valley, will produce about 92 million gallons of water a day, enough to supply an additional 400,000 L.A. homes for a year.
These projects don’t just increase our supply of clean drinking water, they help store water for future drought and emergencies, and provide an extra measure of flood control.