Growing Up in LA

A few weeks ago I was talking with another transplant from Los Angeles who also became interested in environmental sustainability. She asked what it was that got me interested in the topic. I told her that I never was big on going outside – not like I am now at least. I’ve hypothesized before on what led me down my current path. More than anything I’ve seen it as an intellectual issue. There is a finite amount of matter (“stuff”) on earth. Her question made me reconsider the role growing up in LA played. Having also lived here in Denver and ending up in the field of environmental education, I wondered whether the decision to work on environmental issues stems from living in LA during my (our) formative years.

To me, LA is an odd juxtaposition of the environmentally conscious and the image conscious. Sometimes these overlap, usually in the instance where being “green” is fashionable. As I stepped into the parking garage at LAX on a recent visit to my parents’, I was momentarily taken back in time. The prime parking spaces were all charging spots, much like the mid-1990s. There in the first two rows I saw about a half dozen Nissan Leafs plugged in (or in some cases just parked in the spots, which are located closest to the passenger pick-up). Next to the line of Leafs was a Tesla Roadster. After I turned the corner, I saw another Tesla. Perhaps it was the second Tesla, which was not parked at a plug that made me think there was chance that electric transport could really take off.

A few days later, while traveling on the highway (the 101 if you must know), I was sandwiched between a Prius and a Ferrari. This epitomizes Los Angeles in my mind. Glitz and green. Here is where the Tesla Roadster really can find its niche, but I digress. It was the conversation with the LA transplant that got me wondering why we went in the direction we did (in terms of our career paths). Currently I’m of the mind that it’s a reaction. A reaction to the sprawl, the smog, and the car. Maybe more so than Detroit, the car is king in LA. Getting around without one is difficult, to put it mildly. The congestion – traffic and pollution – can also be stifling. While the smog is better now than when I was growing up, with the topography as it is, smog just settles in the valleys. I don’t much recall seeing the mountains as a kid. Living in the foothills of the Rockies, there are occasional hazy days, but I never forget that the mountains are there; that wasn’t the case growing up.

All in all, growing up in LA, where we collected cans for the 5 cent deposit to recycle them, led me down this path. I suppose I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s my McDonald’s moment.