Watch a recording of the “Fierce Urgency of Now” press conference with climate leaders from Los Angeles and beyond here.
Last June, Los Angeles Councilmember Paul Koretz, Naomi Klein and a coalition of environmental justice leaders from L.A. and beyond announced an effort to launch a WWII-scale climate mobilization of America’s second largest city.
Today Councilmembers Paul Koretz and Bob Blumenfield will introduce two “Fierce Urgency of Now” motions to the Los Angeles City Council seeking to turn that vision into reality:
1. A motion to establish a City of Los Angeles Climate Emergency Mobilization Department to oversee an emergency effort to radically reduce and remove greenhouse gas emissions citywide;
2. A request for the use of California Office of Emergency Services mitigation funds to establish the new department.
As Paul Koretz said at the announcement of these motions, “We’re out of time. We can’t keep waiting around thinking, once it gets bad enough, we’ll have enough time to do something. We’re here today to tell you, it’s bad enough now. We are out of time and need to act, quickly and boldly, like the very planet beneath our feet depends upon it. Like our home depends upon it. Because it does.”
If passed, these motions could begin the first true WWII-scale climate response in the world, rooted in the social and environmental justice principles outlined by the coalition of Angelenos who have been struggling to phase out our toxic economy for decades.
The World War II homefront mobilization began with the creation of new agencies, such as the War Production Board, tasked with coordinating the extremely fast conversion from peacetime to wartime production. By introducing these motions in our second largest city, Councilmembers Koretz and Blumenfield are setting a new precedent for how governments must respond to climate disruption in 2018.
This could be a giant first step toward the mobilization we need to protect life on earth. You can be a part of it:
Join the effort to mobilize LA
or
Ready to mobilize another city? Get started here today
Statements of Support
Naomi Klein, Author and Activist: “Our collective house is on fire and nobody knows that better than the people of Los Angeles. It’s time we started acting like it. These City Council motions recognize the real lesson of these unprecedented winter fires and mudslides — that the time has come for an immediate, whole-of-society mobilization to address the climate emergency, with the highest priority placed upon a just transition and the needs of frontline communities.”
Bob Blumenfield, Los Angeles City Councilmember, 3rd District: “Over the past few months, we have seen some of the most vicious fires in our city’s history rip through our communities, testing the limits of our emergency management capabilities. The sad reality is that due to climate change, as well as a deliberate lack of environmental leadership out of Washington, it is up to us to lead and ensure that we are doing everything possible to reduce our carbon footprint and clean our environment. I am proud to stand with Councilmember Koretz and many environmental organizations in continuing to steer Los Angeles toward being the greenest and cleanest city in the nation.”
