Axios Event: Long Beach is at a sustainability “inflection point”, mayor says

LONG BEACH, CALIF. – California is working toward an ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85% over the next few decades as part of the state's plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.

• Axios host and editor Niala Boodhoo and San Diego reporter Andrew Keatts moderated conversations with Los Angeles County chief sustainability officer Rita Kampalath, Lowercarbon Capital operating partner Lauren Faber O'Connor and City of Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson at the event, which was sponsored by Shell.

Why it matters: State-wide collaboration on decarbonization projects are aiming to help meet this goal by focusing on specific sectors with the highest emissions. In Southern California , the Port of Long Beach is a large driver of the region's economic growth but also its emissions.

What they're saying: "We're a city that recognizes and acknowledges that oil is a part of our past, but it's not a part of our future," Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said, noting that Long Beach is at an "inflection point" as it tries to build a more sustainable economy that's not dependent on fossil fuels.

"The decisions we make in Long Beach impact the region where 1 in 5 jobs across our region are related to the port of Long Beach … and so it forces us to really think creatively about how we plan to address decarbonization," Richardson said.

• One example is a proposed plan to build offshore wind turbines at the port, which Richardson said would help advance California's goals to generate a certain amount of its power through wind.

Another area of focus is decarbonizing buildings. Los Angeles County chief sustainability officer Rita Kampalath said that buildings account for a quarter if not more of the region's greenhouse emissions.

• "So what we're looking at is how do we move those buildings to lower their greenhouse gas emissions, whether that's through switching to electric appliances where possible but it can also be energy efficiency, reducing overall energy use," Kampalath said.

Decarbonizing the industrial sector is not as hard as it was once thought to be, Lowercarbon Capital operating partner Lauren Faber O'Connor said, adding that work to decarbonize heavy industry is "skyrocketing."

• "We used to call these hard to decarbonize sectors, the industrial sector of the economy. They are not hard to decarbonize. We've just sort of put them aside while we've focused on the transportation sector and the energy sector," O'Connor said.

Sponsored content:

In a View From the Top sponsored segment, Shell Energy president Glenn Wright explained the challenges of decarbonizing seaports and emphasized that approaches like electrification will require more investment in infrastructure and labor.

• "So on the one hand, you have a real vital service, a good. And on the other hand, there's a need to mitigate the challenges that the emissions cause potentially to human health or climate," Wright said.
• "This is aging infrastructure that requires modernization, and to apply outcomes requires good financing, good logistics and good skilled labor that can affect the good outcomes for these projects," he continued.