Environment

San Diegans Have Bigger Carbon Footprint than L.A.

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published April 23, 2009 at 12:22 PM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

A San Diego based think tank says the city lags behind Los Angeles in policies and programs to reduce energy use. The Center for Policy Initiatives says San Diegans also use more energy per person than Los Angeles residents. KPBS Environment Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The Center for Policy Initiatives says San Diegans drive about 9,000 more miles per person each year on average than people in LA.

The study also shows that less than 6 percent of San Diego's energy comes from renewable sources, far below the state-mandated 20 percent utility companies are required to reach next year.

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CPI Research and Policy Director Murtaza Baxamusa says Los Angeles is a leader in policy innovation to reduce energy use while policies in the City of San Diego are lacking.

"The approach in San Diego is based exclusively on voluntary incentives compared to a combination of policies in Los Angeles that uses incentives, standards and public investment," Baxamusa said.

For example he says LA is retrofitting all city-owned buildings to meet green standards while San Diego applies the standards only to new and remodeled city-owned buildings.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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