Sustainable LA Grand Challenge

Approximately 500,000 residents in Los Angeles County live within half-a-mile of an active oil or gas well. Recent epidemiologic studies have suggested possible public health impacts associated with residential proximity to oil and gas development (ODG), and several U.S. studies have also found disproportionate oil and gas-related toxic exposure and health risks among racially and socioeconomically marginalized groups, suggesting environmental justice concerns.

Like many cities around the world, Los Angeles is already experiencing the impacts of climate change first hand. In order to align with state and regional climate goals, the city of Los Angeles is taking steps to help residents adapt and become more resilient in the face of these changes, while simultaneously mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through targeted policies, such as building decarbonization.

Los Angeles County is a biodiversity hotspot that harbors over 4,000 species of plants and animals. The most populous county in the nation, L.A. County offers a unique environment where more than 10 million people coexist with wildlife. The biodiversity of L.A. County provides many benefits to people, including air and water purification, food security and mental/physical well-being. But land development and climate change threaten the county’s species, their habitats, and the region's ecosystem. With 1 million animal and plant species globally facing extinction due to human activity, efforts to better understand the factors that shape biodiversity in Los Angeles could help shape global conservation efforts. 

Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) is a water recycling technique that uses treated wastewater as a source of drinking water. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) of California is currently tasked with developing regulations for DPR by the end of 2023. In this project, UCLA researchers focus on ways to clear the legal path toward the adoption of DPR in Los Angeles County and California. The ultimate goal of this project is to facilitate the adoption of DPR in a manner that is timely, secure and protective of public health. 

Los Angeles County is the largest county in the nation with a population of approximately 10 million people. By 2050, the county is projected to have a 15% increase in population, adding 1.5 million more residents. With projected urban population growth alongside the effects of climate change, providing Angelenos with reliable energy, water and an environment that will enhance their health will be a challenge. The UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge (SLA GC) was developed to address these problems and ultimately transition Los Angeles County to 100% renewable energy, 100% locally sourced water, and enhanced ecosystem and human health by 2050. In response to SLA GC’s original goals, The NOW Institute research team undertook a first-round assessment of where the county stands today and what can be done to achieve those targets by 2050.

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions helps mitigate climate change and improves air quality, which protects public health. California has the worst air pollution than any other state in the country. As the world’s fifth-largest economy, the most populous state in the nation, and a coastal state vulnerable to climate catastrophes, we have ample reasons to be a leader in the race to net-zero GHG emissions. While achieving net-zero emissions is critical in limiting global temperature rise, the resulting long-term air quality and health impacts in the state remained unclear. Quantifying these impacts can help demonstrate the benefits of climate change action to local communities and policymakers.

Los Angeles County is known for its rich wildlife biodiversity in our natural areas such as the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains. Mammalian biodiversity has been declining for decades in the Los Angeles urban area due to human activity. As an important indicator of ecosystem health, mammals play essential roles in the food webs of every ecosystem. Since they feed at various levels of food chains, mammals help regulate populations of diverse plant and animal species and also take part in seed dispersal and plant pollination.  Such a decline in population sizes and dynamics of mammals is also relevant since it can potentially alter pathogen load and diversity, which in turn poses health risks to humans, pets and other wildlife species.  To this day, the abundance of biodiversity and the population dynamics of mammals within the built urban environment of Los Angeles are both not well known. Additionally, public perceptions and their interactions with urban mammals such as raccoons, rats and opossums have not been previously characterized in the area. To address this knowledge gap, UCLA researchers take on a cross-scale research project to elucidate the biodiversity—urban ecology of mammals, their pathogen carriage and public perceptions of mammalian wildlife—within the urban Los Angeles County ecosystem. 

Both the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County are engaged in various scientific projects to better understand, measure and preserve biodiversity in the region. However, missing from these approaches is any attempt to capture or measure the social, cultural and political perception of these critical resources across neighborhoods and different demographic groups. Biodiversity is both affected and perceived differently by different groups of people in urban environments, and there are many controversies associated with biodiversity management (e.g. coyote culling and pet safety, secondary poisoning from rat control, environmental contamination, flood control, habitat restoration, etc.).    City and County managers have only sparse and anecdotal data on how individuals respond to or engage with these issues and how their values relate to the goals and practices of biodiversity conservation. This project attempts to address this gap by eliciting responses directly from residents and collectives in the Los Angeles region to shape a more complete narrative of public understanding of and engagement on biodiversity issues. 

Physical activity (PA) improves the quality of life and health and is closely linked to the built environment. To promote sustainable and active living in communities, many cities are implementing bike sharing programs. These programs provide co-benefits of reduced emissions by decreasing vehicle miles traveled (VMT). However, no study has been conducted locally to quantify and assess the impacts on PA patterns and health. PASTA-LA, a sister-study of the European Union PASTA project, will be the first and only study outside of Europe to explore the health-related outcomes of bike share in Los Angeles, California. 

Los Angeles County has high rates of food insecurity, federal food assistance and chronic diet-related diseases, in part due to lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables and limited green space and safe outdoor spaces in many communities. Urban agriculture has the potential to improve public health through increased food access and consumption, thus may help address urban food insecurity. However, there is very limited data and documentation of urban agriculture activities (e.g. size, production, crop types) in the County. Recognizing this data gap, this project expanded the current documentation efforts and assessed the production potential focusing on how urban agriculture affects public health by integrating health impact assessment (HIA) methodology, geospatial analysis and policy review.