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.
LA Mayor Karen Bass’ proposed budget would ax a landmark climate action office
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.
