Mirror, mirror on the wall: Who is the greenest of them all?
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has a plan to slash his city's planet-warming greenhouse gases to 35% below the 1990 level by 2030, and make L.A. the "cleanest and greenest city in the country."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, April 23, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 47 words Type of Material: Correction
Green cities: In an article in Tuesday's California section about Los Angeles' and San Francisco's rivalry over "green city" programs, the name of the director of the Department of the Environment for the city and county of San Francisco was incorrect. He is Jared Blumenfeld, not Blumenthal.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has a blueprint to cut his city's greenhouse gases to 20% below the 1990 level by 2012, creating "the greenest large city in the United States of America."
In both metropolises, those lofty promises are facing a critical test.
Today, the L.A. City Council will hold a public hearing and vote on Villaraigosa’s proposal to make private developers meet nationally-developed green building standards. Next month, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will act on Newsom’s proposed building ordinance.
Which is stricter? San Francisco's, by a long shot.
Which will remove more carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere? Los Angeles' -- but only because it's a bigger city, with a population approaching 4 million; San Francisco's population is under 800,000.
By and large, city governments can't control gas-guzzling SUVs, devastated forests and big industrial pollution, all of which are major causes of global warming. On the other hand, the built environment is their bailiwick. Buildings account for an estimated 43% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., compared with 32% from transportation and 25% from industry.
But buildings' environmental footprints can be dramatically reduced by using low-irrigation landscaping; efficient heating, air-conditioning and lighting; solar panels; roof gardens; and low-emission paints, glues and carpets.
Seventeen states, including California, and 80 localities require public buildings to meet green standards. But so far, only one state and 14 cities are applying those rules to private construction.
Los Angeles would be the biggest city to join the list. Still, San Francisco's proposed standards "would far surpass those of any other large city," according to Brooks Rainwater, director of local relations for the American Institute of Architects and author of a comprehensive study on green building programs.
Both cities use the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system, developed by an industry-led nonprofit, the U.S. Green Building Council. The group audits buildings after construction and judges them as LEED certified, the most lenient standard, up through LEED silver, gold, and platinum.
