Lauren Faber O’Connor on the Rise of Sustainability in Los Angeles
In this episode of Flanigan’s Eco-Logic, Ted speaks with Lauren Faber O’Connor, Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Los Angeles.
Ted and Lauren discuss her early career at the British Embassy promoting sustainability solutions, as well as the relationship between British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, which led to her moving home to California to serve as Assistant Secretary of the California EPA for Climate.
She goes to share how she landed back in Los Angeles to work for Mayor Garcetti to serve as deputy, and then Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Los Angeles, highlighting LA’s unique role and its opportunity to create a potent model for sustainability. She digs into the breadth of environmental and equity issues the Mayor has spearheaded, and the responsibility and opportunity that LA has to serve in a local government leadership capacity. That opportunity includes demonstrating how the City has turned a major corner, completely transforming its environmental posture…from a City choked with traffic and pollution…to a model for the country and world.
