“LA 2024 will be the greenest Games in history, including the first ever energy positive Games,” LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman said after California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law groundbreaking new legislation requiring the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, strengthening California’s previous nation-leading target of a reduction to 1990 levels by 2020.
The state also enacted companion legislation that establishes a legislative committee on climate change policies to ensure transparency and accountability in greenhouse gas emission reduction programs.
In a statement, Governor Brown called the new laws “far-reaching moves that continue California on its path of vast innovation and environmental resilience.”
“This progressive legislation demonstrates once again that California is a pioneer in sustainability, with funding mechanisms in place to set the global agenda. In a forward-thinking mega-city like the New LA, the challenge to remain environmentally friendly never ends, so sustainability and conservation are at the forefront of LA 2024’s planning and our culture as a bid,” Wasserman added. “And with our wealth of existing stadiums, housing and transportation options, LA 2024 has a minimal construction budget, giving us the dual benefit of avoiding the environmental impact of large, complex new projects and focusing our resources on a partnership with the IOC to deliver ‘what’s next’ in sustainable sports event hosting.”
California, the world’s sixth largest economy, continues to set the most progressive environmental protection agenda in the United States despite 2030 estimates projecting 13 percent population growth to 44 million and over 50 percent gross state product growth to $3.5 trillion.
This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at ISMG@aol.com. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.