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Los Angeles City committee told 2025 greenhouse‑gas goal likely won't be met under community inventory
Summary
Sanitation staff told the Committee on Environment and Energy that the city’s community greenhouse‑gas inventory shows only a 31% reduction and, based on 2024 data, the city is unlikely to meet its 2025 reduction target; staff highlighted methodology differences and data gaps in transportation data.
Los Angeles City Committee on Environment and Energy members were told May 19 that the city is unlikely to meet its 2025 greenhouse‑gas reduction target when measured using the community inventory methodology presented by Sanitation staff.
At the meeting, Daniel Ram and Lily Carlsen of the Sanitation office described two inventories: a municipal inventory tracking government operations and a community inventory using the GPC protocol that captures emissions from activity across the city. Ram said the municipal inventory shows a 44% reduction from the 2008 baseline under the city’s official methodology, while the community inventory shows only a 31% reduction for 2024 — a performance Ram said leaves the city short of the Green New Deal’s 2025 goal.
The distinction between methodologies drove much of the discussion. Staff explained that the municipal methodology excludes emissions associated with purchased electricity generation in its primary accounting, while an alternative methodology that includes purchased generation shows stronger reductions. “When we take into account purchased electricity, we have seen a much larger decrease” in emissions, staff said, noting that methodology selection affects whether the city appears on track.
Councilmembers pressed staff on data quality and comparability. Members raised concerns that gaps in transportation data — the team’s principal source (identified in the presentation as Google Environmental Insights) was not available for 2024 — could distort year‑to‑year comparisons. Staff said they are pursuing alternative sources and are in discussions with LADOT and consultant Greg Pearce to obtain consistent historical series and avoid misleading comparisons.
Presenters also reviewed sector breakdowns, saying generation of electricity accounted for the largest share under the municipal method, and that other sectors such as waste and transportation contributed smaller shares but show different trends depending on methodology and data availability.
The committee voted to note and file the inventory report; staff said the slides and supporting documents will be posted on the office website.
Next steps identified at the meeting included continued work to reconcile methodologies, pursue missing transportation data, and use the inventories to inform the city’s climate adaptation and implementation planning.
