LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles was among four cities named today to join the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge. San Diego, San Jose and Portland, Oregon, were also selected for the $70 million effort by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's American Cities Initiative to support and enhance a total of 20 cities' capacities to fight the effects of climate change and create environmentally sustainable solutions.
Bloomberg announced last month that Seattle, Washington, and Atlanta, Georgia, were selected for the program.``The response to our Climate Challenge was overwhelming,'' Bloomberg said.
``Cities all across the country put forward thoughtful and innovative proposals. Selecting the ones with the most ambitious goals -- and the most realistic plans for reaching them -- was not easy. But Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and Portland all stood out, and we're glad to include them in the group of winners.''
The American Cities Initiative is a $200 million investment intended to support policies that Bloomberg sees as critical. The cities participating in the climate challenge program will receive a suite of funds and materials to assist in the fulfillment of their individual climate action plans. Each city will also be partnered with a program liaison to help develop and ultimately pass legislation to curb climate change.
``Leadership on climate change has always come from cities, because our residents can't afford the costs of inaction and the consequences of delay. So it's up to us to look around the corner for them and take action now,'' Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a prepared statement.
``With Bloomberg's generous investment, L.A. will be able to accelerate the bold commitments in our Sustainable City pLAn, uphold the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, and continue to lead the world in clean energy innovation.''
Garcetti's office said the city will receive a support package valued at $2.5 million, which will go toward a developing a carbon-free building stock; building out a network of transit projects by supporting the Twenty-Eight by 28 initiative to complete 28 transit project by the 2028 Olympics; increasing transit ridership; improving safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists through street improvements; and planning a fossil fuel-free zone in the city.