On Saturday, Coalition for Clean Air President Dr. Joe Lyou spoke at a press conference announcing a $39 million upgrade to the Rosa Parks Blue Line Station in South Los Angeles. The project was made possible thanks to AB 32 and SB 535, important pieces of climate change legislation that CCA and other groups advocated for.
Here are Joe’s thoughts on the announcement:
Los Angeles has three main problems – smog, traffic, and out of control celebrities. The $39 million renovation of the Rosa Parks Blue Line Station will reduce smog and traffic. If we could get the celebrities out of their limos and onto public transit, it might help with the third problem too.
This is part of the new L.A. When I grew up in LA, we regularly had Stage 3 smog alerts. When that happened, we couldn’t play outside, we couldn’t see the mountains, we couldn’t breathe, and these smog alerts happened all the time.
While I was growing up, Los Angeles planners thought they could prevent traffic jams by building more freeways. That didn’t work, exacerbating LA’s traffic and air pollution problems.
Today, we don’t have smog alerts. Cleaning up our air is one of the greatest civic achievements in the history of Los Angeles. We did it by investing in public transportation, cleaner cars, and less polluting factories.
While we still have a long way to go to get to clean air, these types of investments have paid off by saving lives and improving the health of our children, the elderly, and the disadvantaged communities that are more likely than others to have the worst air pollution.
Today, our light rail system is growing and getting better all the time. The renovation of the Rosa Parks Blue Line Station is one of those investments that’s on the right side of history – part of a newer and better Los Angeles.
To continue to making good climate investments like this, we need the Legislature to pass two bills: SB 350 by Senate President Pro Tem De Leon and SB 32 by Senator Pavley. These bills will make sure we stay on the right path to a better Los Angeles and a better California for decades to come. I encourage everyone to make sure your Legislator votes for SB 350 and SB 32 before the legislative session ends in two weeks. These two bills are the most important thing happening in Sacramento and this is crunch time.
This is an important climate investment worth celebrating. This project will make riding the Blue Line and Green Line easier and safer, and it’s going to help the local economy. Give them some time and I’m sure the leaders here with us today will figure out a way to deal with the celebrities too.
The Coalition for Clean Air strongly supports legislation that will move us toward our vision of clean health air for California. See below to learn about the legislation we are currently supporting.
Click here to learn more about SB 350
Click here to learn more about SB 32
Click here to learn more about SB 185
