Move LA

United Steelworkers Local 675 a 4,500-member union in Southern California made up primarily of workers in oil refining and extraction is on board with moving to wind, solar, and other forms of clean energy. The union helped fund and then endorsed a report that shows California could add 418,000 clean energy jobs per year over the next decade.

We are hosting 4 Zoom calls on the climate change challenge over the 4 weeks and the first (on June 24) is about Reducing Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, aka Super Pollutantsour most urgent climate challenge. We'll be discussing priority solutions with SLCP experts from NRDC, EDF, ClimateWorks, the Climate Center, the California Air Resources Board, LA County Department of Public Works. And you can REGISTER HERE: https://bit.ly/3vmSVMJ

Great piece for LA Times Opinion on how removing Metro Los Angeles fares will make public transit in LA more accessible but better service is still a critical need. #TransitIsEssential #BetterBusesforLA Move LA helped provide background for this piece and Director of Programming and Development Eli Lipmen was quoted: Fare’s a factor, but we’re as concerned about, ‘Is my bus going to arrive on time? Is it going to be fast? Is it going to be reliable?’

Check out our guest commentary on Los Angeles Streetsblog. We are tracking the and believe Metro Los Angeles can pilot Fareless Transit AND increase service. Because if not now, when? #TransitIsEssential #ActOnClimate #TransitJustice Do you agree?

The West is no stranger to drought, but climate change is making it worse. Severe dryness covered California and Nevada just five years ago, from 2012 to 2016, and the Southwest has been in drought for much of the past two decades. Experts say this year is unusual because extreme drought conditions are so widespread, have intensified quickly, and are likely to grow even worse this summer. https://www.nytimes.com//california-western-drought-map.ht

"When ridership declines, we set this region up for worsening traffic, which would have continued if not for the shutdown during the pandemic," Move LA's Eli Lipmen told Smart Cities. "We have an opportunity to set a different path, one that promises to restore and increase service and also provide relief for those who have been most affected by the pandemic." https://www.smartcitiesdive.com//la-moves-closer-/601580/

Join us Tuesday, 4-5 p.m., to talk about Metro's proposed fare-free transit for low-income people and all community college and K-12 students! Great way to rebuild bus and rail ridership post-COVID and give more than a nod to equity, not to mention reducing traffic, air pollution, GHG and SLCP emissions, make streets safer for walking and biking, and "growing" new transit riders who will use the rail lines Metro is building all over LA County. Register: https://bit.ly/3uM4mOu

UC-Redlands student Diego Mora watched his young brother suffer from asthma but it wasn’t until he took part in a project to map warehouses that he realized the toll the logistics industry was taking on people in communities like his. The maps powerfully illustrate that poor, Black and Latinx populations are disproportionately burdened by the logistics industry, especially in the Inland Empire and some freeway corridors of LA County. https://laist.com//weaponizing-maps-in-the-social-justice-

Research by Eno Transit found the Metro Los Angeles LADOT Official Flower Street Bus Lane greatly improved mobility, increasing Person-throughput by 37% compared to pre-traffic conditions with limited reduction of lanes for private vehicles. Kudos to Mayor Eric Garcetti's Team for getting this done. https://www.enotrans.org//a-budding-model-los-angeless-fl/

The Indirect Source Rule is so very important, especially to all those living in warehouse-adjacent communities in the South Coast where 70% of residents are people of color and 50% experience poverty. The South Coast Air Quality Management District has worked on this rule to achieve emissions reductions for 6 years. We urge you to call in tomorrow morning and urge a YES vote. More info on how to do that here: http://ow.ly/lQyB50EFUVc And there's an excellent interview with Joe Lyou below. https://www.planningreport.com//coalition-clean-air-s-joe-

There is no drought. That phrase is sometimes used to deny the epic and obvious change in our climate patterns, but that’s all wrong. Just as there is no temporary drought in the Sahara, where heat and dryness punctuated by flash flooding is the norm, there is no temporary drought in California. The years of steady and predictable water flow are over, and there is no sign of them coming back in our lifetimes. This is it. We have to build, and grow, and legislate, and consume for the world as it is, not as we may remember it. https://www.latimes.com//202/editorial-there-is-no-drought

We want to introduce you to the CA Climate and Clean Air Initiative, a collaboration between Move LAoperating as Move CAand SPUR, the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association, to continue our conversation with climate experts about how we can help California roll back climate change and fully and finally clean the air. https://bit.ly/38hH1M3

Transit got a boost Tues. when 13 of 17 ballot measures passed in the US; with 2 races in MI and GA too close to call. The 2 that lost: a payroll tax in Portland, Ore., and sales tax Newton County, Ga. Some think the wins indicate the pandemic has reframed the way Americans think about transitnot as a luxury but as an essential public service needed to get essential employees to work.

The US withdrew from the Paris climate agreementthe first nation to do sotoday, even as it's unclear whether President Trump will win a 2nd term. Trump pulled out of the the global agreement to curb climate change a year ago. Former Vice President Biden has said he will rejoin immediately if he wins, and his clean-energy agenda is one of the most ambitious in the world. https://www.bloomberg.com//u-s-exits-paris-climate-accord-

Government agencies, corporations and nonprofits are realizing they must figure out their role in perpetuating racial inequities. And in California: Caltrans has updated the CTC on how it's addressing these issues, the CTC is forming an Equity Advisory Roundtable, CalSTA issued a statement on racial equity and inclusion, and CARB has established a Diversity and Racial Equity Task Force and may adopt a resolution to do better on racial justice internally with employees and externally with the communities its decisions impact. https://cal.streetsblog.org//california-agencies-begin-to/

Climate change is a major issue for voters this year: 58% of Americans have said they're either very or somewhat concerned. But that poll also found a stark partisan split: 90% of voters who favored Biden expressed concern, while 23% of those who are backing President Trump did. https://www.nytimes.com//polls-what-voters-think-climate-g

The federal government has invested $2 trillion in stimulus measures to mitigate the economic effects of COVID, some of which has been invested in fossil fuels. This report by the Roosevelt Institute argues for a green stimulus that recognizes the need to address 2 existential crisesthe climate and economic catastrophessince all stimulus money affects climate, and future relief efforts should also help decarbonize the economy. https://bit.ly/35Pgov9

There's a real plan, folks, and UC Davis Prof. Dan Sperling and colleagues pitched their chapterAccelerating Deep Decarbonization in the U.S. Transportation Sectortoday. They say studies show "the overall costs of transitioning are small" because technology has advanced faster and costs have declined more rapidly than expected: In 2010, batteries cost about $1,000/kWh, and now battery costs are projected to drop to $100/kWh by 2025 or sooner.

We interviewed Metro Los Angeles Chief of STaff Nadine Lee about bus operations, the NextGen Bus Plan, bus ridership, and bus infrastructure. Check out what she had to say (Part 2 of a 3 part interview): https://www.movela.org/metro_cos_interview2 #NextGen #BetterBusesforLA #publictransit

The presidential election is just not even a week away, and climate change has broken through as a defining issue for Americans this year, even amid a historic pandemic and deep economic uncertainty weighing upon the nation.

The sharp dips in driving that accompanied early stages of lockdowns mean less gas tax revenue, exposing what many transportation agencies have feared: the gas tax is no longer adequate for America’s infrastructure funding . . . New driving trends may accelerate conversations on innovative approaches to replace it.

Gas-guzzling cars and trucks have defined life in the US for more than a centuryand we’re paying the price. Transportation is the major cause of air pollution-related death and disease, and now is the #1 source of global warming in the U.S. The best climate science suggests we have until mid-century to dramatically clean up the transportation sector.

What do you think? Metro is taking public comments until Nov. 16 on the proposed privately funded gondola from Union Station to Dodger Stadium (w/ stops in between). It could transport 5,500 passengers/hour in each direction and connect to the B (Red), L (Gold), D (Purple) lines and to the Regional Connectorproviding connections to the A (Blue) and E (Expo) lines as well as Metrolink and Amtrak! Send comments to [email protected]. More info on Metro's website; search for Aerial Rapid Transit.

They say " . . . the climate battle could be lost long before 2050; it might even be lost by 2035. Consequently, it is time for fast climate mitigation, especially in the form of reductions of the short-lived so-called super-pollutantsblack carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone, and hydrofluorocarbons, abbreviated as HFCs . . . Speed must become the key measure of all climate mitigation strategies . . . "

The scare from the worsening fire season on the West Coast + hurricanes in the east has sensitized many to the fact that climate change is here. We're launching a statewide effort w/ our NoCal partner SPUR to put a "California Climate + Clean Air Initiative" on the Nov. 2022 ballot. Here's what our nonprofit partners have to say about hardwiring equity into the plan. https://www.movela.org/