Former U.S. President Bill Clinton joined Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday in unveiling what is called the largest effort by a U.S. city to reduce pollution by retrofitting incandescent street lights with more efficient LEDs or light emitting diodes, Xinhua reported.
"This is the best place in the world -- in the U.S. at least -- to lead this," Clinton said in reference to the city's ongoing environmental efforts. "This is like taking 6,000 cars off the road."
Calling it a "great day in Los Angeles," Clinton said that "if every major city followed your lead, we could eliminate 2 1/2 coal- fired power plants."
Over a five-year period starting in July, the city will retrofit 140,000 of its residential street lights with LEDs, according to city officials.
The project is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 40,500 tons and save 10 million U.S. dollars annually.
Villaraigosa said the effort would help make Los Angeles the " cleanest, greenest big city" in the United States.
"We are building a bridge to a sustainable future," he said.
Clinton said money from the 787-billion-dollar federal stimulus package President Obama plans to sign Tuesday includes funds for environmental efforts similar to the Los Angeles street light program.
"If we help you to live green," Clinton said, there could be a time when "every major city could be without a landfill."
The ex-president began the Clinton Climate Initiative in August 2006 to help fight global warming. It is a partnership with the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, an association of large cities worldwide, including Los Angeles, that have pledged to accelerate their effort to reduce greenhouse emissions.