The Los Angeles Business Council and the UCLA Lukin Center for Innovationsays that the West Coast region’s GDP growth rate “significantly exceeded” that of the rest of the nation–rising 32.1 percent in eight years–even as the region has aggressively moved to use clean and renewable energy and as it has implemented the strictest environmental regulations in the nation.
According to the LABC and the UCLA study, the figures undercuts the argument that the U.S. must roll back its climate change policies in order for businesses to remain competitive and to thrive. The LABC said its studies found that California, Oregon and Washington all experienced strong GDP growth (32.2 percent, 26.5 percent and 34.6 percent respectively) between 2008 and 2016, for a combined total of 32.1 percent.
The data was released ahead of today’s 12th Annual Sustainability Summit at the Getty Center, run by the LABC. The group–which will feature Oregon Governor Kate Brown, Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti today at the summit–takes issue with the current Presidential administration’s dramatic efforts to roll back environmental rules.
The groups said that currently, California, Oregon, and Washington produced almost two-thirds of their electricity from clean energy sources in 2016.
