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L.A. Mayoral Candidate Greuel Endorses Huge Solar Goal

By Chris Clarke
January 30, 2013
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Wendy Greuel at 2006's Golden Dragon Parade in Chinatown, Los Angeles | Photo: Jim Winstead/Flickr/Creative Commons License

 

As ReWire reported earlier this week, Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti, one of more than a dozen candidates for mayor in the upcoming election, has said that as mayor he'll push for Los Angeles to generate about a fifth of its electrical power from the city's rooftops. Now his main competition in the race, City Controller Wendy Greuel, has signed onto that pledge.

According to a press release issued today by the group Environment California, Greuel -- who has won endorsements from a wide range of renewable energy and environmental advocates in Los Angeles -- joined with Garcetti, and with a range of community leaders and environmental groups -- in endorsing a goal of building 1,200 megawatts of roftop solar in Los Angeles by 2020.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's current 2020 rooftop solar goal is 382 megawatts, a relatively paltry amount that is nonetheless more than a six-fold increase over the current 60 megawatts.

Solar panels did earn mention in Monday evening's first mayoral debate, with Greuel declaring that Los Angeles "should be the solar capital of the world." Garcetti pledged that his mayoral administration would increase L.A.'s rooftop solar tenfold by the end of his term in 2018.

"We applaud Mr. Garcetti and Ms. Greuel's endorsement of a big, bold vision for solar power in Los Angeles," said Michelle Kinman, clean energy advocate with Environment California. "Making Los Angeles a world-class solar city is a no-brainer solution that will bring cleaner air to the city, help stop global warming, and create local jobs that can't be outsourced. We welcome the endorsement of this goal by all of the other mayoral candidates."

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