Antonio Villaraigosa

City of Los Angeles will promote widespread adoption of “cool roof” technology, citing benefits documented in Emmett Center report

One of the core goals of our environmental law programs at UCLA Law is to influence and inform public policy with our research.  I’m proud to say that our Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment is doing exactly that.  The City of Los Angeles, influenced by the Emmett Center’s work, is moving forward …

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How About 30/15? Maybe 30/20?

A couple of weeks ago I referenced Mayor Villaraigosa’s 30/10 plan, which seeks to take the $30-40 billion of Proposition R money for LA county transit, bond it, and move MTA’s transit projects faster.  This plan would turn 30 year schedule into a 10 year schedule.  Thus, 30/10.  Get it?  I wondered what all the fuss was …

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Credit Where It’s Due: Villaraigosa’s 30/10 Plan

I’ve been somewhat critical of LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s environmental policies, which tend to have more style than substance.  But I have overlooked his 30/10 plan, which (as the New York Times reported the other day) might revolutionize the way sustainable infrastructure is built in American cities.  That’s unfair, because the Mayor has really done …

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Classic Villaraigosan Environmental Policy

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was in Los Angeles today, announcing an official EPA finding that Compton Creek, a portion of the Los Angeles River, is a “navigable water” of the United States.  This finding means that Compton Creek can receive the protection of the Clean Water Act: most prominently, it means that any attempts to …

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Mayor Villaraigosa Betrays Environmentalism AGAIN

A few days ago, I noted that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa likes to talk a good game when it comes to Greening the city, but conveniently abandons plans when they become politically difficult or require anything like a normal attention span. I was more right than I thought.  I mentioned that the Mayor had …

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Mayor Villaraigosa, This is NOT How You Do Environmental Policy

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa likes to talk green at every opportunity, but most of his environmental initiatives fall flat due to lack of follow-through (no one has ever accused him of too long of an attention span), his own political incentives, or both.  He pushed a charter amendment to mandate the development of solar power for the …

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