Mayor Eric Garcetti Sticks with L.A.’s ‘Green New Deal’ Despite California Blackouts

Mayor Eric Garcetti / Facebook

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday evening that he was sticking with his version of the “Green New Deal” for the city despite electricity blackouts elsewhere in the state due to the inadequacy of solar and wind power at peak demand.

Earlier this year, Garcetti declared that L.A. would adopt a “Green New Deal” by abandoning plans to rebuild three natural gas plants, turning to solar and wind power instead. Officials doubted whether the city would have enough electricity under Garcetti’s plan to keep the lights on, and members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18 — the union representing L.A. Department of Water and Power employees — protested vehemently against Garcetti’s proposal.

Breitbart News asked Garcetti whether he was reconsidering his plan, given last week’s admission by Gov. Gavin Newsom that the state needed to “sober up” about the shortfalls of solar and wind power as the state moved toward renewable energy.

“No,” Garcetti said, adding: “We have to ‘sober up,’ but that doesn’t mean ‘let up.” He said he was confident that the city’s solar and wind power projects would need L.A.’s needs because they were also building battery storage capacity. And he said that the recent wildfires across the state proved the need to continue efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change.

Last August, opponents of Garcetti’s “Green New Deal” pushed a Republican to victory in a special election for city council.

Republican John Lee defeated Democrat Loraine Lundquist, who backed Garcetti’s Green New Deal enthusiastically.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.