Hollywood stars sent a letter Tuesday to Los Angeles city officials calling on them to increase the city's use of clean, renewable energy such as wind and solar power. The letter, signed by more than 15 members of the entertainment industry, asked Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn to adopt an official renewables portfolio standard of 20 percent clean energy by 2017.
"As members of the arts and entertainment community in Los Angeles, we are not only concerned about film and television production, but energy production as well," said actor and environmentalist Ed Begley Jr, one actor who signed the letter. "Los Angeles is at a critical energy crossroads – we should become a leader not just in the entertainment business, but the clean energy industry as well. It is time to kick the coal habit."
Other signatories to the letter are: Peter Abrams, Ed Asner, Alec Baldwin, Hart Bochner, Clancy Brown, James Cromwell, Benicio Del Toro, Mike Farrell, Liberty Godshall, Dennis Haysbert, Peter Horton, Bill Maher, Wendie Malick, William Petersen, Amy Smart, and Ed Zwick.
The letter comes after Mayor Hahn announced earlier this year that his committed to reaching a goal of 20 percent clean energy by 2017.
Two weeks ago, City Councilmember Tony Cardenas ordered the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) to draft such a plan within 60 days. But to date, no plans have been drafted and neither the mayor's office nor the City Council have defined what energy resources will be counted toward this 20 percent goal. The letter's signatories worry that this leaves open the possibility that the DWP could include nonrenewable resources such as large dams and natural gas power plant upgrades.
The DWP, the largest publicly owned utility in the country, sources more than 50 percent of its electricity from coal fired power plants. Combined with local natural gas power plants, it generates more than 75 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels that cause smog, global warming, and mercury pollution.
The department gets less than three percent from renewable resources such as wind power, compared to a 12 percent state average.
The California Legislature exempted the utility from the specific requirements of the California Clean Energy Act that requires state utilities to generate at least 20 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2017.
Instead, the state law requires the DWP and other municipal utilities to determine their own clean energy goals – other municipal utilities, such as Burbank and Sacramento, have already adopted clean energy plans equivalent to the state's goals.
"Los Angeles has dragged its feet, investing in more coal and natural gas," said Bernadette Del Chiaro, clean energy advocate with Environment California Research and Policy Center, a statewide environmental organization. "Renewable energy is good for our environment and our economy, and we hope this Hollywood spotlight sets the stage for a happy ending in which Los Angeles becomes a national leader in the shift to clean energy."
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