The new department will develop plans for addressing the impacts of air and water pollution, extreme heat, and climate change on vulnerable communities.

A new Los Angeles County office created by the Board of Supervisors will focus on environmental justice, reports Steve Scauzillo in the Los Angeles Daily News. “The new department will develop a strategy for addressing environmental pollution, which disproportionately affects low-income communities and people of color, the supervisors said.”
Supervisors want to see the new office assess a variety of environmental hazards, such as communities harmed by pollution from traffic, including neighborhoods along the busy corridors that shuttle goods from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to distribution centers in the Inland Empire and beyond; communities affected by battery plants and other industrial polluters; and neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by extreme heat that would benefit from cooling strategies to keep homes and public spaces safe for residents.
According to Supervisor Janice Hahn, as quoted in the article, “The agency would collect data and hold industries accountable for environmental degradation or potential public health hot spots.” Supervisor Hahn added that finding methods to keep homes and neighborhoods cool is more important than providing cooling centers, which frequently go unused, saying, “We should be meeting people where they are to stay cool in their homes.”
FULL STORY: Battling climate change is task of new LA County Office of Environmental Justice and Climate Health

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
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