Trust for Public Land Supports California Climate Change Goals

The Trust for Public Land today said it supports the call by California Governor Jerry Brown for the state to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030, and said natural infrastructure can play a major role in achieving those goals.

“The goals outlined today by Gov. Brown are ambitious, but California has always been a leader and we believe the state should lead the nation in fighting against climate change,” said Gina Fromer, California Director of The Trust for Public Land. “It will take a lot of work for Californians to meet these targets, but we need to meet them, and we can.”

“Natural infrastructure can play a major role in meeting the target reductions the governor outlined today,” said Ms. Fromer. Examples of such natural infrastructure included turned paved alleys in Los Angeles into “green alleys,” which can be mini-parks for local residents and capture rain water during storms.

“California’s forests store carbon in the trees, our many thousands of acres of wetlands provide the buffers we need to blunt the effects of severe storms, and the kind of green infrastructure we are building in Los Angeles are among the solutions we need to meet the ambitious goals the governor laid out,” said Ms. Fromer.

“Making our cities and urban areas greener is one of the best investments we can make help our cities deal with climate change,” she said. “Building more and better parks, greening our city alleys, and protecting our forests are among the steps we need to take. We support the plan Gov. Brown announced today.”