Exclusive: Nithya Raman reveals her climate plan
Karen Bass has been a lousy mayor. Would Raman be any better for Los Angeles?
Programming note: Yesterday, I published an exclusive story about Los Angeles firing its chief heat officer — the latest confounding move by Mayor Karen Bass.
Today, I’m publishing an interview with Nithya Raman, one of the candidates to replace Bass. My story includes an exclusive first look at Raman’s climate plan.
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When Nithya Raman announced that she would break with her ally Karen Bass and challenge the incumbent Democrat for Los Angeles mayor, I was delighted.
Having covered Bass’ environmental policies, I felt ready for a change. The leader of America’s second-largest city isn’t exactly a climate laggard — she’s kept in place the ambitious goals set by her predecessor, Eric Garcetti, including 100% clean power and 70% locally sourced water by 2035. But she’s hardly bursting with climate enthusiasm, either. She’s done little to advance a long-simmering effort to phase out neighborhood oil drilling amid industry opposition. She suspended an all-electric building rule after the Palisades fire. When L.A. faced a budget crisis, she proposed saving a few hundred thousand dollars by axing the Climate Emergency Mobilization Office.
Raman, by comparison, has spent her time on City Council advancing cleaner air and better urban planning. She wrote a policy banning most gas appliances in new homes and businesses. She served on the board of the regional air quality regulator — at least until Bass quietly removed her. Unlike Bass and many of her colleagues, she didn’t try to block a state law designed to help developers build more apartments near bus stops and train stations.
So I was pleased when Raman got in the race.
At the same time, I was surprised to see some progressive factions snub her, or even coalesce around Bass. Were they annoyed that Raman waited until the last minute to declare her candidacy? Were they unwilling to buck an L.A. Democratic machine that has long discouraged challengers from rocking the boat? Or were they displeased that Raman had arguably strayed from her democratic socialist roots?
I’m not a close enough observer of L.A. politics to answer those questions.
But if you’re a climate voter deciding what to do in the June 2 primary, I’m confident in saying that Raman is a better choice than the incumbent — especially now that I’ve talked wither her about her climate plan, which was released today.
To hear Raman tell it, global warming is an air quality issue, a public safety issue and a quality-of-life issue. Her preferred solutions include electric appliances, electric cars and electric trains, as well as more parks, more trees and more shade structures at bus stops. She also wants a moratorium on new large-scale data centers.
“I think for many Angelenos, [climate] isn’t just an abstract value,” Raman said in an interview. “But really it is something that is playing out in their daily lives.”
Before going into more detail, I should note that Bass released a Climate Action Plan last month too.
In some ways, the 93-page plan — which is an official city document, not a product of Bass’ reelection campaign — is impressive. It showcases 52 “Green New Deal” climate targets spanning energy, water, air quality, transportation and parks.
But although some of the targets are new, many have been on the books for years. The most ambitious goals were established by Garcetti.
“Largely it’s just a reiteration,” said Greg Pierce, the senior director of UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation.
Notably, the plan says nothing about the role of L.A.’s chief heat officer, Marta Segura — not surprising, given that shortly after it was released, Segura was quietly fired, as I reported Monday. The plan is also silent on the city’s climate emergency office, which Segura led. The office is now down to one staffer, even though City Council refused to go along with Bass’ plan to eliminate it entirely.
Under Garcetti, the fact that Los Angeles was one of just three U.S. cities or counties with a chief heat officer was a point of pride for City Hall. No longer, it seems.
“My impression is that [Bass] is not that interested in the environment, and never has been,” said Stephanie Pincetl, a professor at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. “Her sustainability plan just seems flat.”
Raman’s plan, which is posted on her website under “issues,” didn’t knock my socks off. It’s relatively brief and at times light on detail; it also arrived late in the campaign. If you’re looking for a truly climate-first candidate, you may come away disappointed. Raman is no Tom Steyer.
But broadly speaking, her plan hits the right notes, especially in combination with her transportation and street safety platform. She’s certainly better than Bass.
A few reasons why.
Raman’s plan is explicit: The city should adopt state building codes that incentivize new homes and businesses to be all-electric. Unfortunately, the gas ban that Raman wrote a few years ago was repealed due to a court decision banning such policies. But there are other tools for encouraging builders to avoid gas hookups, and Raman wants to use them.
She also wants to accelerate efforts to end oil extraction within city limits — another policy that City Council already passed once but was forced to repeal due to a lawsuit. Just like ditching gas appliances, ending oil drilling would result in cleaner air — and hopefully lower rates of asthma and illnesses such as cancer.
Bass generally supports those ideas, too. But Raman believes the mayor has had plenty of time — and she’s right. Our lungs can’t wait. The climate crisis can’t wait.
The last few years, “what may be missing is political urgency,” Raman said.
During the Garcetti administration, she added, “environmental goals were central to the future of Los Angeles.”
“I don’t think you would say that today. The mayor waited nearly four years to release a climate strategy,” Raman said.
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Raman said she’d prioritize climate when making appointments to agencies such as Metro, the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. I was especially glad she mentioned the water district, or “Met,” which supplies a big chunk of L.A.’s water. I’ve covered Met extensively, and I’ve always been flabbergasted by Bass’ apparent lack of focus on the agency, given the precarity of L.A.’s water supply amid historic, climate-fueled drought.
“These are all places where climate goals can be pushed,” Raman said. “There has not been a concerted push to achieve strategic climate goals for the city, and I think that’s very palpable.”
One bright spot for Bass is the Department of Water and Power, where staffers have been working feverishly to reach 100% clean energy by 2035. Until recently, they were led by one of the mayor’s best hires, Janisse Quiñones.
Unfortunately, Quiñones stepped down in March, lured back home to Puerto Rico by an offer to run the company that operates the island’s power grid. I’ll be fascinated to see who Bass hires as DWP’s next general manager.
Same goes for chief heat officer. After I reported Monday that Segura had been fired, a Bass spokesperson sent me a statement assuring me the job would be filled.
“Extreme heat is one of Los Angeles’s most dangerous climate hazards, and it will only become more severe without urgent action,” the statement read. “We are in the final stages of appointing a dynamic new Chief Heat Officer, and we are excited for them to advance Mayor Bass’ Climate Action Plan, including developing the City’s first Heat Action and Resilience Plan, expanding L.A.’s tree canopy in our most heat-vulnerable communities, and implementing functional cooling strategies citywide.”
“We thank Marta for her service,” the statement added.
Better than nothing. Still no comment on whether all the open positions at the climate emergency office will be filled, though.
“I do want to give [Bass] credit for continuing the clean energy and clean water goals, especially in the Trump era. I do think she’s been dealt a difficult hand with the fires,” UCLA’s Pierce said. “But I don’t think we’ve really moved the needle forward.”
Raman isn’t perfect. But when the other top-polling candidates are Bass and Spencer Pratt — a MAGA-aligned former reality TV star — this should be an easy decision for climate voters. Keep Bass under 50% and help Raman, not Pratt, advance to the runoff.
You probably already received your ballot in the mail. Make sure to vote by June 2, for this election and all the other ones.
See you tomorrow
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