LA Bans Oil Production by 2025! Portland Audubon, WRI Webinar Recap, EU’s  Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency

LA CITY COUNCIL BANS OIL/GAS PRODUCTION BY 2025

The myth of Los Angeles is it was built on movies. The reality is it was built on oil. More than 5,200 oil and gas wells still sprawl across the city, making it one of the largest urban oilfields in the country. And about 500,000 Angelenos live within a half mile of a well.

Los Angeles City Council president, Nury Martinez, notes, “From Wilmington to the San Fernando Valley, gas, drilling and oil wells have disproportionately affected the health of our working-class neighborhoods,” said the. “This is yet another example of how frontline communities disproportionately bear the impacts of pollution and climate change.”

That’s why last week, Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to ban new oil and gas wells in the country’s second most populous city and phase out existing wells over a period of five years.

The vote marks a huge victory after activists waged a years-long effort to get the city to clean up its act. It will provide a huge benefit to communities of color that often live in the shadow of the city’s most polluting sites. The approved measures will see the city draft ordinances to prohibit new oil and gas extraction, hire experts to analyze how to phase out remaining wells throughout the city, and create a framework for plugging wells left abandoned.

The city’s decision follows a separate motion from the Los Angeles county board of supervisors, which voted unanimously to phase out drilling in unincorporated areas last September on similar grounds.

The approved ordinance will develop a jobs program to help transition some of these workers to other industries. Plugging abandoned wells could also be a prime source of employment for oil and gas workers as the world winds the industry down while also generating billions in public health and climate benefits.

DEEPER DIVE: Gizmodo, The Guardian, SpectrumNews1

EU’S CLIMATE, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND ENVIRONMENT EXECUTIVE AGENCY

We’ve talked about the LIFE Awards and at least two of its winners here on The Climate Daily. They recognize the most innovative, inspirational and effective LIFE projects in three categories: climate action, environment and nature protection. They’re an initiative of the EU’s Life Program. But what exactly is the LIFE Program, and why does it matter to us?

The LIFE Program is part of the EU’s European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency, also known as CINEA. It’s less than a year old, having been created on April 1, 2021. That ironic date aside, CINEA’s earnest mission is “funding a green future for Europe.” It was established to support stakeholders for delivering the European Green Deal through high-quality program management.

The LIFE Program and the Life Awards fall under the support category of Climate and Environment. CINEA aids in four other broad areas, including Energy, Transport and Mobility, Maritime and also through certain, specific proposal funding opportunities. Some of its recent projects include the Innovation Fund, which has funded at least 30 projects to date.

And why CINEA matters to us is precisely for the reason it was formed—funding a European green future and for delivering a green deal for Europe through high quality program management. The die has already been cast. The template has already been made. The mold has already been created. Whichever term of art you care to use, the point is, substitute “American” for “European,” get the office up and running, and let’s go!

DEEPER DIVE: CINEA, LIFE Program, EUC

WORLD RESOURCES IINSTITUTE WEBINAR RECAP

Last week, the World Resources Institute hosted an engaging webinar on how to make the UN climate process more effective in the years ahead. A diverse set of panelists that included

• Laurence Tubiana, CEO, European Climate Foundation

• Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW)

• Ineza Grace, Co-Director, Loss and Damage Youth Coalition

• David Waskow, International Climate Director, World Resources Institute

• Helen Mountford, President and CEO, ClimateWorks Foundation (moderator)

discussed both what is working well and what challenges have stymied faster progress.

I sat in on the webinar. I have to say I came at it with some skepticism, particularly because one hour is not enough time to solve the world’s problems. But overall, the hour was well-spent. That’s why I recommend finding an hour to watch and form your own opinion.

Click on the link to the WRI webinar in the Deeper Dive section of this story at TheClimateDaily/episodes to see for yourself. Oh, and WRI, if you’re listening, I strongly suggest you consider making a Bitly of your links in future. That will make it easier for us to convey the information to our listeners.

DEEPER DIVE: WRI Webinar, UNFCCC

PORTLAND AUDUBON  

We were researching something called the Kailish Ecovillage in Portland, Oregon when we came across Portland Audubon.  Portland Audubon’s passionate and growing community has loved and advocated for Oregon’s wildlife and wild places for more than 100 years. With the help of a vast network of advocates, nature enthusiasts, and partners, the community inspires and connects people to nature through a variety of programs that are grounded in science and learning.

Audubon’s mission is to inspire all people to love and protect birds, wildlife, and the natural environment upon which life depends. Its goals include protecting, teaching, rehabilitating wildlife, stewarding, volunteering, and of course—birding.

Why does Portland Audubon matter to us non-Portlandians? Its focus on climate change. Calling it the “greatest threat to our planet’s diversity of life” and recognizing climate change is already affecting people and wildlife equally, the group is now focusing on four key areas:

1.)  Creating climate resilient landscapes. That involves incorporating climate modeling into all other efforts to restore and manage habitats with the intent of helping people and wildlife adapt to the effects of climate change.

2.)  Keeping the Portland metropolitan area as a leader in energy conservation, reduction and green infrastructure construction.

3.)  Promoting bird friendly renewable energy development. This one resonates with me because it’s not something that occurred to me prior. Portland Audubon wants to assure all wind and solar projects are sited in such as was as to prevent habitat loss or fragmentation of bird migratory/nesting patterns.

4.)  Prioritizing frontline communities that are most likely to be impacted by the effects of climate change. In other words, climate justice.

Portland Audubon’s got at least three events in February worth checking out. Visit audubonportland.org for more.

DEEPER DIVE: Portland Audubon