Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is catching heat—literally and figuratively—for being abroad in Africa while her city struggled with wildfires blazing through its neighborhoods. This comes as a stark contrast to her frequent boasts about “building a greener L.A.,” a tagline she’s plastered all over social media and public statements. Just last month, Bass proudly announced that her administration had created over 100,000 green jobs by 2024, achieving her target a year ahead of schedule. But this week’s firefighting efforts in the Palisades, where dry hydrants left crews scrambling for water, painted a much less flattering picture of her leadership.
Bass’s environmental programs, heavily promoted as visionary and groundbreaking, have focused on sustainability and water conservation. Her office has touted achievements like reducing water consumption to 103 gallons per capita per day, a significant drop from 2014 levels, and capturing an impressive 82 billion gallons of rainwater—far surpassing the 63 billion gallons captured in the previous two years. These projects were positioned as transformative, with her administration claiming to secure a more sustainable future for Los Angeles. But as the flames raged and firefighters were left high and dry, the disconnect between her lofty goals and on-the-ground realities became uncomfortably evident.
Critics argue that while Bass has been busy framing herself as an environmental trailblazer, her policies have neglected critical infrastructure. Firefighters encountering waterless hydrants in wildfire-prone areas highlighted a glaring oversight: emergency preparedness seems to have taken a backseat to the green agenda. For a city that has faced wildfires season after season, it’s hard not to wonder if Bass’s priorities have been misplaced—too focused on PR-friendly initiatives and not enough on basic safety measures.
Donald Trump’s past criticisms of California’s environmental policies now seem eerily prescient. He had previously slammed the state for failing to clear dry brush and diverting water resources into the Pacific to protect a fish species, the smelt. Trump warned that such policies were turning California’s forests into kindling for massive wildfires. With dry hydrants and uncontained blazes in Bass’s Los Angeles, his critiques feel less like partisan jabs and more like an unheeded warning to state leaders.
While environmentalists might applaud Bass’s initiatives, the unfolding crisis has laid bare the shortcomings of her administration’s priorities. Wildfires, infrastructure failures, and misplaced focus on sustainability have left many residents questioning the efficacy of her green vision. For those watching their neighborhoods burn while hydrants sit empty, the mayor’s promises of a greener L.A. feel more like empty rhetoric than a roadmap to safety.
The goal was more than 100,000 green jobs in L.A. by the end of 2025.
— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) December 6, 2024
We hit the goal by the end of 2024.
We’re building a greener L.A.
