The Brief

Facing a nearly $1 billion budget shortfall, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is calling for major cuts to city resources that focus exclusively on addressing the local effects of climate change.

The cuts call for:

• Eliminating the city’s landmark climate action office, called the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office, or CEMO. That includes potentially cutting the city’s first chief heat officer, Marta Segura, who directs the office. The city declined to provide further details to LAist about what her role may be if the office is cut.  
• Downsizing the Office of Petroleum and Natural Gas, including: 
  
  • Cutting one position in the oil and gas well compliance program, which oversees pollution from oil wells in the city. 
  • Cutting one position in the oil amortization program, which is tasked with helping the city figure out how to phase out urban oil drilling over the next few decades.
• All in all, eight positions are proposed to be cut across the two offices, which is estimated to save the city about $950,000. The emergency mobilization cuts make up the bulk of those savings — about $750,000.

The move comes after the most destructive fires in L.A. history that were made worse by human-caused climate change.

The proposed cuts have alarmed local environmental justice and public health advocates who have worked closely with the city on these programs.

“I can’t believe it,” said Miguel Miguel, former director of the grassroots environmental justice group Pacoima Beautiful and now director of Sierra Club California. “Not only did we just go through the worst fires we’ve seen in a long time, but all the environmental justice organizations that are trying to fight climate change consistently in Los Angeles now just got told that this is not as important as the other things we have to pay for.”

A spokesperson for the city told LAist that Bass remains "committed" to climate action and that the city will continue to coordinate progress across city departments.

What does the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office do? 

Established in 2019 in a unanimous vote by the L.A. City Council, the office is considered the first of its kind in the world.

Since then, the office has led extreme heat education campaigns, been creating a comprehensive heat action plan, and worked across city departments to develop policies to transition buildings (which account for 40% of the city’s emissions) to cleaner energy in an equitable and affordable way, among other things.

“The last thing we should be doing is cutting the very office tasked with coordinating climate efforts across departments,” Alex Jasset, energy policy lead for the non-profit Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles, wrote in an emailed statement to LAist. “We strongly encourage the mayor to reconsider the proposed budget to include funding for this critical office.”

The idea of the office is to streamline the city’s approach to climate action by establishing an office solely focused on bringing together often-siloed city departments, developing a heat action plan and centering the concerns of communities most impacted by environmental pollution.

The office was established in large part due to advocacy from communities most directly affected by environmental pollution and extreme heat.

Marta Segura, who grew up on the front lines of environmental pollution in San Jose, was appointed director of the office and then became the city’s first chief heat officer. She is the only city official who focuses exclusively on the effects of worsening climate change, including working across city departments and with community-based organizations to address the health effects of extreme heat in L.A.

LAist reached out to Segura for comment, but a Climate Emergency Mobilization Office spokesperson said she was not authorized to speak with reporters because the budget proposal is not final. It’s not yet clear what will happen to her position going forward, and city officials would not provide further details to LAist.

“ Climate work is not just in the realms of climate,” said Miguel, “and the [Climate Emergency Mobilization] office was our chance to really connect and unify that work in one location to help the city of Los Angeles move forward.”

What effect would these cuts have? 

Officials and advocates worry the cuts could hinder climate progress in the city, including losing a state grant to help with extreme heat action and reducing more than half of the staff tasked with overseeing oil wells in the city.

Vahid Khorsand, the president of the city’s Board of Public Works, which oversees the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office and the Office of Petroleum and Natural Gas, expressed his concerns in a letter to the city responding to the budget proposal.

Khorsand wrote that the proposed cuts to the Office of Petroleum and Natural Gas would end already-funded efforts to monitor air quality around oil and gas drilling sites and to develop a “public transparency dashboard for oil and gas company compliance.” The planned cuts would also “delay or completely halt” work to develop a plan to phase out oil drilling in the city, he wrote.

Khorsand added that the proposal to eliminate the climate office would also require the city to forfeit a $750,000 state grant to create L.A.’s first heat action and resilience plan. Such plans can help the city prepare for the effects of climate change long-term, and receive certain types of funding for efforts such as planting trees, assisting with utility bills, and developing other strategies to address the worsening impacts of extreme heat, particularly in the hottest areas of the city that have long faced disinvestment.

“Should this office be deleted, ... community resources and education provided by this office to the most vulnerable communities who face the impacts of climate change and extreme heat would be eliminated,” Khorsand wrote.

The city’s response 

The mayor’s spokesperson, Zach Seidl, wrote in an emailed statement to LAist that “with an $800 million deficit, there are only difficult choices.”

He emphasized that, despite the proposed cuts, Bass remains committed to climate progress.

“The mayor’s office has a robust office of Energy and Sustainability led by Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley working on various equitable climate action goals and initiatives including with the environmental justice communities,” Seidl wrote. “Mayor Bass is committed to her bold climate goals and despite a tough budget cycle, is unwavering in her commitment to a sustainable and green future for Los Angeles.”

Seidl also pointed to the mayor's "climate cabinet," which is made up of 15 city departments that convene periodically to coordinate climate action priorities.

What’s next?

Public comment can be provided in person at upcoming hearings about the budget proposal, which are scheduled for the following dates:

• Friday, April 25 at 1 p.m, at Van Nuys City Hall
• Monday, April 28, at 4 p.m. at L.A. City Hall
• Thursday, May 1, at 9 a.m. at L.A. City Hall (this hearing is specifically discussing the elimination of the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office)

Members of the public can also provide comments online. The council file number for the proposed budget is 25-0600.

The Winter Olympics are set to open this Friday in Italy, some 4,600 miles away from Minneapolis, the epicenter of the uproar over the Trump administration's hardline immigration enforcement tactics.

As American athletes turn their attention to the Games here, some — including several from Minnesota, which is home to some of Team USA's biggest stars — have spoken out in the wake of the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in January.

"I want to make sure you know who I'm racing for when I get to the start line at the Olympics," wrote Jessie Diggins, the cross-country skiing star and three-time Olympic medalist, in a statement she posted to her Instagram on Saturday alongside a photo of herself celebrating with an American flag at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.

"I'm racing for an American people who stand for love, for acceptance, for compassion, honesty and respect for others. I do not stand for hate or violence or discrimination," the post continued. Diggins, 34, grew up in Afton, Minn., less than an hour's drive from downtown Minneapolis. She is expected to compete in six cross-country events at the Olympics this month and could contend for a medal in all of them.

The day after 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti was shot to death by Customs and Border Protection agents on a Minneapolis street, Team USA hockey player Kelly Pannek paused a post-game press conference for her professional team, the Minnesota Frost, to call the aggressive immigration enforcement "unnecessary and just horrifying."

"It's obviously really heavy," said Pannek, who is from the Minneapolis suburb of Plymouth, as her Frost teammate and fellow Team USA member Taylor Heise — another Minnesota native — nodded. "What I'm most proud to represent is the tens of thousands of people that show up on some of the coldest days of the year to stand and fight for what they believe in."

Other Olympians who are not from Minnesota, including snowboarders Stacy Gaskill of Denver and Bea Kim of Palos Verdes, Calif., have spoken out in advance of the Games. "The Olympics are more than just sport. They represent global unity and peace," wrote the 19-year-old Kim in a post on Sunday. "Diversity is what makes the United States so special. It is woven into the very fabric of our country."

The Winter Olympians join a vocal chorus of prominent athletes who have spoken up about the Trump administration's tactics in Minneapolis.

Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who was part of Team USA's gold medal run at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, wrote that Pretti "was murdered," and the three-time Olympic gold medalist Breanna Stewart held a sign that read "Abolish ICE" at a game for the 3-on-3 league Unrivaled last week. "I think that when human lives are at stake, it's bigger than anything else," she said in a press conference afterward.

In Milan, a hospitality space for friends and family of Team USA athletes was renamed over the weekend to drop the word "ice" from the name.

In a statement, the three governing bodies who operate the newly-named "Winter House" said that the new name would better suit the intent of the space, which was originally called the "Ice House."

"Our hospitality concept was designed to be a private space free of distractions where athletes, their families, and friends can come together to celebrate the unique experience of the Winter Games," reads a statement released by U.S. Figure Skating, USA Hockey and US Speed Skating of the name change, which was first reported by USA Today. "This name captures that vision and connects to the season and the event."
Copyright 2026 NPR

This story was originally published by Boyle Heights Beat on Jan. 2, 2026.

Three Eastside walking clubs are hosting silent peace walks this week in East L.A., El Sereno and Montebello to support community members affected by recent immigration enforcement sweeps.

Called “For the Love of Our Communities: Peaceful Walks of Silence,” the idea sprouted last Wednesday, when communities on the Eastside saw one of the heaviest days of immigration enforcement since the raids began last June. Eastside L.A. Walking Club founder, Brissa Sanchez, wanted to host an event for people who want to show collective solidarity in their community, especially those who don’t feel safe or comfortable participating in massive protests.

“A lot of us are probably feeling depleted of exuding all this energy towards showing up in different ways, whether it’s at a protest or constantly being bombarded with everything that we’re seeing on social (media),” said Sanchez.

So last week, she reached out to other local walking clubs who were interested in participating. At the East L.A. Walking Club gathering on Wednesday, Sanchez will lead the group through relaxing breathing exercises, she said.

The walks are in honor of “our neighbors that have been affected by our horrible political climate,” the El Sereno Walking Club wrote in an Instagram story.

Participants are encouraged to bring candles and flowers, some of which may be provided onsite. The walks are meant to be a space where neighbors can be present with one another and “grieve together,” rather than march and protest, the post says.

“These walks are a moment to be present with one another, to walk quietly, and to move through our city with care.”

Last week, federal immigration agents and their vehicles were spotted in Boyle Heights and East L.A., and at least 6 people were taken in the operations.

On Friday, Los Angeles communities came together to protest during the “ICE Out” National Day of Action, marching from City Hall in downtown L.A. to Boyle Heights and back.

Find a silent walk near you:

Montebello

The Montebello Walking Club will meet Monday, Feb. 2, and Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 5 p.m. at Montebello City Hall.

East L.A.

The East L.A. Walking Club will meet Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 6 p.m. at 5718 Whittier Blvd. The route is posted on the club’s Instagram page.

El Sereno

The El Sereno Walking Club will meet Sunday, Feb. 8, at 8 a.m. The route will be posted on the club’s Instagram page.

The Trump administration is scaling back plans for this year's field test of the 2030 census, raising concerns about the Census Bureau's ability to produce a reliable population tally for redistributing political representation and federal funding in the next decade.

The 2026 test was designed to help the bureau improve the accuracy of the United States' upcoming once-a-decade head count. A mix of communities in six states, as well as a national sample of households, was expected to take part in the experiment.

But the agency is now set to reduce the number of test sites to two — Huntsville, Ala., and Spartanburg, S.C. — while adding plans to try replacing temporary census workers with U.S. Postal Service staff, according to a Federal Register notice that was made available for public inspection Monday before its official publication.

The bureau is also cutting a plan to provide Spanish- and Chinese-language versions of the census test's online form, which is now set to be available only in English. Households can start using the form to respond sometime in the spring, the bureau's website now says, and if they don't, they may get a visit from a census or postal worker.

Spokespeople for the bureau and its parent agency, the Commerce Department, did not immediately respond to NPR's questions, including those about what prompted these changes. In a statement Monday announcing the "launch of the 2026 Census Test," the bureau said it "remains committed to conducting the most accurate count in history for the 2030 Census and looks forward to the continued partnership with local communities."

Census test plans for rural communities and Indigenous tribal lands are cut

Among the locations no longer part of the census test are rural communities in western Texas and Indigenous tribal lands within Arizona and North Carolina. Those include the Fort Apache Reservation, home to the White Mountain Apache Tribe; San Carlos Reservation, home to the San Carlos Apache Tribe; and the Qualla Boundary, home to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Terri Ann Lowenthal — a census consultant, who was once staff director of a former congressional subcommittee on the national count — calls this development on the road to the 2030 census "disheartening."

"The descoped 2026 test plan is confusing and unclear to the public — a product, regrettably, of the administration pulling a black-out shade over all planning for 2030," Lowenthal said in a statement. "Equally troubling, we already know from the last census that not fully evaluating promising new methods and improved operations, for example in rural areas and on American Indian reservations, can lead to a less accurate count in many communities."

The cutbacks to the test come after the bureau has refused to update lawmakers in Congress charged with overseeing its work and after the administration disbanded all the bureau's committees of outside advisers, who previously received periodic briefings on 2030 census planning during public meetings.

Over the past year, the bureau, which is the federal government's largest statistical agency, has also had multiple departures of experienced staff members as part of the Trump administration's slashing of the federal workforce.

In a statement, Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan said he was "alarmed" by the bureau's announcement about significantly cutting testing.

"When the Census Bureau doesn't accurately count people, the communities most in need lose out on critical resources," said Peters, the top Democrat overseeing the bureau on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "I have long pushed the Census Bureau to conduct robust testing of strategies to reach historically undercounted communities to ensure that every person gets counted. I urge the Census Bureau to reverse its decision and conduct the 2026 Census Test with all six of the communities as planned."

Dante Moreno, a lobbyist for local governments at the National League of Cities, says leaders of some of the canceled test sites were informed of the bureau's changes on Monday after months without updates. The test's new focus on online census responses has now raised more concerns.

"Rural areas in general are just less likely to have cell service or internet service. So how do you fill out those questionnaires? Or if your home is a mile away from another home, how do you make sure that people know that you exist there, that they know to come to you so you get counted?" Moreno says.

Similar questions are on the minds of the Indigenous tribal leaders whose communities are no longer invited to participate in the test, says Saundra Mitrovich, a census consultant with the Native American Rights Fund, who co-leads the Natives Count Coalition.

"Many of our native populations are also dealing with language assistance concerns. And when we can't rightly respond to that or participate in pulling together an operations plan that will address that adequately, then it becomes a challenge. Are you listening to our communities? Are you upholding that federal trust responsibility for tribes?" says Mitrovich, who is a tribal citizen of the Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California.

Exactly how postal workers will help with the census test is unclear

Preparations for this census test have already suffered from delays in raising public awareness and finalizing a staffing plan, partly due to uncertain funding from Congress. And the bureau had been waiting for months for a White House agency to approve a plan to contact administrators of college dorms, nursing homes and other group-living quarters to get ready for counting. The bureau's Monday announcement about its revised test plan makes no mention of group quarters.

Bringing on Postal Service workers to help conduct the census test is expected to raise a raft of questions among both advocates of the count and USPS. A 2011 Government Accountability Office report found that replacing temporary census workers with higher-paid mail carriers is not cost-effective. Still, such a move has had the vocal support of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has claimed it could save the government money.

USPS spokesperson Albert Ruiz referred NPR's questions, including whether postal workers would be expected to work for the census test in addition to their regular jobs, to the Commerce Department.

"The United States Postal Service looks forward to participating in the 2026 Operational Test in Support of the 2030 Census," Ruiz added.

Edited by Benjamin Swasey
Copyright 2026 NPR

Gov. Gavin Newsom touted California’s drug interdiction efforts during a San Diego news conference Monday that contrasted the state’s public safety efforts with combative tactics by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Since 2021, Newsom said, National Guard troops have seized 34,357 pounds of fentanyl worth an estimated $506 million at California ports of entry.

“This is what the National Guard should be doing,” Newsom said at the event at “This is the kind of partnership that makes sense.”

Last month a federal judge ended federal control of the National Guard troops in Los Angeles and returned them to Newsom’s command, six months after President Donald Trump ordered 4,000 troops to the city to quell protests against federal immigration raids in California. Newsom argued that Trump’s deployment of the Guard diverted them from duties including drug enforcement and wildfire prevention.

Newsom terms out after eight years as governor this year, and is expected to launch a campaign for president in the 2028 election. He has positioned himself as a resistance figure against Trump’s intensified immigration crackdown and heightened federal control over states.

On Monday, Newsom argued that California is combatting crime and patrolling its border, while responding to disruption in the wake of the administration’s mass deportation campaign.

“It's the kind of thing that we should be doing more,” he said. “It's not about politics. It's not about creating anxiety and fear.”

CalMatters could not reach the White House for comment Monday.

Newsom denounced sweeping immigration raids in Los Angeles and other California cities, noting that one of the early ICE actions involved arrests of kitchen staff at the San Diego restaurant Buona Forchetta last May.

The ICE surge escalated in Los Angeles, prompting public demonstrations, then a crackdown by the Trump administration.

“We saw the federalization of the National Guard, hundreds of millions of dollars wasted of taxpayer money,” Newsom said.

As the Department of Homeland Security draws down its controversial "Operation Metro Surge" in Minneapolis, where ICE officers fatally shot two U.S. citizens, Newsom lamented that the operation’s leader, Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, was sent back to California.

“We're hardly celebrating that,” he said.

Newsom said that earlier Monday he spoke with residents of El Centro, where Bovino originally held command. Community leaders described how local organizations are helping children left in charge of households after parents are detained in immigration raids, and aiding people in ICE custody.

Newsom pointed to CalMatters reporting that immigration arrests in San Diego have quietly surged by 1,500% over last year, “but without the fanfare of what you're seeing in your living room and on your screen happening in places like Minneapolis.”

He said the state is responding with lawsuits challenging the administration’s mass deportation efforts, and distributing money to community organizations for legal aid, counseling and mental health support for people affected by immigration raids.

In the wide-ranging press conference, Newsom weighed in on topics from his efforts to seek $33.9 billion in wildfire disaster assistance for Los Angeles, to his rejection of Trump’s bid to restart offshore oil drilling. He cited Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ shared misgivings about the proposal.

“We have a well-established opposition in the state of California,” Newsom said. “I find it ironic and interesting that so does the governor of Florida. When Donald Trump advocates for offshore drilling off the coast of Mar-A-Lago, I'll know the sincerity of these efforts.”

Newsom distanced himself from former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, saying “My opinion was a little different than the prior administration’s on border security.” He called for reforming the immigration and asylum systems to account for long-time residents without legal status, mixed status families and workforce needs.

“Those things need to be front and center in our conversation and debate around immigration, but unfortunately, it's not, because it's been bastardized,” Newsom said.

He pointed to the state’s seizure of half billion dollars worth of fentanyl, along with methamphetamine, guns and cash, as evidence that California’s approach is working.

Since October the National Guard has seized 3,005 firearms and $34 million in cash, Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers of the California National Guard said, freeing other law enforcement to perform their duties.

“What it means is that my team enables sworn law enforcement officers to get on the street and do the hard work that they have to do,” Beevers said. “It also enables Customs and Border Protection agents to be able to be on the border where they belong.”

Newsom described California Highway Patrol officers and National Guard troops as “Swiss Army knives” that fill multiple roles in disaster response and public safety. In August, the governor deployed California Highway Patrol officers on crime suppression teams in San Diego, the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, the Central Valley, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area, to seize illegal weapons and drugs.

“Everybody knows that we are proud to be partners and part of the solution,” California Highway Patrol Commissioner Sean Duryee said. “I look at it as the National Guard is the first line of defense.”

The highway patrol, Duryee said, is “the last line of defense before those narcotics are in our communities.”

Newsom said he’s committed to working with the Trump administration on “legitimate public safety concerns,” but cast doubt on the potential for such a partnership.

“That's not again what this is about,” he said of Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign. “It's about terrorizing the community. It's about chaos. It's about fear.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.