Social Responsibility and Sustainability News

At the VerdeXchange Marketmakers Conference that took place in downtown Los Angeles this week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gave a keynote speech to an audience of 500 industry leaders working to build and shape the green economy of Los Angeles and the nation. The group included individuals working in both the public and private sectors to further the development of technologies and markets related to energy efficiency, electricity transmission, alternative fuel vehicles, clean water, low carbon transportation, and green building. In his presentation, Mayor Villaraigosa explained how his focus on developing Los Angeles’s clean technology market is helping him address some of the biggest challenges facing the city.

According to Villaraigosa, over 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2015, a 10 percent increase over four years ago. And in the coming years, 85 percent of jobs will need to be created in cities. In the face of absent leadership from the federal government, city leaders will need to come up with innovative ideas and take bold actions to determine how to balance growth with the need to provide residents with work and livable communities in the face of dwindling resources.

To that end, the mayor has set out to establish Los Angeles as the country’s leading hub for clean tech innovation, an effort that will create new jobs and improve the city’s economy. “LA is the creative capital of the country and maybe even the world. And it is fast becoming the clean tech capital of the country,” said Villaraigosa. This statement is sure to conjure some doubts, but there are convincing arguments that support Los Angeles as a city that is leading in the clean tech industry.

Villaraigosa touted Los Angeles’ strong brand when it comes to its university system. According to the mayor, the city’s top three research universities – USC, UCLA, and Caltech – are responsible for more patents than any other three schools in any other city. This strong foundation for research, coupled with the city government’s commitment to addressing sustainability issues, has the potential to spur innovation, technology transfer, and startup creation here in Los Angeles.