News Business & Policy Los Angeles Kicks the Coal Habit By Karl Burkart Writer Swarthmore College University of Oregon Karl Burkart is a writer, architect, digital strategist, and nonprofit executive focused on issues including climate change, biodiversity, clean energy, and sustainable agriculture. our editorial process Karl Burkart Updated February 04, 2020 Los Angeles is moving away from coal. (Photo: Rain0975 [CC BY ND-2.0]/Flickr) Share Twitter Pinterest Email News Environment Business & Policy Science Animals Home & Design Current Events Treehugger Voices On July 4th weekend, Los Angeles declared its independence from coal. Mayor Villaraigosa's announcement had a direct impact upon the utility IPA (Intermountain Power Agency) which supplies the Los Angeles basin with a large percentage of its power. According to the New York Times, IPA immediately scrapped plans for a new 900 megawatt coal-fired plant in Utah. IPA spokesperson John Ward stated, "We were in a permitting and preliminary planning stage, and some of the expected partners determined that it wasn't going to match up with their resource objectives." Los Angeles purchases a full 45 percent of IPA's power, and it is anticipated that IPA will be looking into alternatives to supply energy to one of its biggest customers. The Sierra Club has been working hard over the past two years to raise awareness of the many health and environmental impacts associated with coal plants and to stop as many proposed plants as they can. The proposed IPA plant marks the 100th such plant that has had its plug pulled. A sign of coming hard times for the coal industry?