Los Angeles Is Up Next. Let’s Make Clean Air our 2028 Legacy

With the closing of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympics underway, attention now begins to shift toward the next Olympics and Paralympics: the Summer 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Beginning July 14, 2028, millions of visitors from around the globe will arrive in LA to witness over 10,000 athletes push the boundaries and stretch the limits of human performance–running faster, jumping higher, and competing at the very edge of what the body can achieve.

But as these athletes prepare to compete, Los Angeles must prepare as well. Not just preparing the venues, logistics, workforce, and transportation, but our air as well.

Summers in Los Angeles–and around the world–are getting hotter. At the same time, the Greater LA region still experiences the worst air pollution in the nation, driven largely by transportation emissions, with goods movement in aggregate being the largest source (e.g., especially diesel trucks and trains moving the nation’s goods from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach through our region to their final destination).

The result is that we stand to face a dangerous combination: extreme heat and polluted air.

During LACI’s Road to 2028 Summit last December (check out the panel with journalist Sammy Roth), Team USA athletes spoke about the realities of training and competing in hot temperatures and polluted air. Team USA discus athlete Sam Mattis talked about the exhausting impacts of competing in temperatures reaching 116 degrees during recent trials, and the difficulty of competing in humid 90+ degree temperatures at the Tokyo Games. Former Team USA Olympic cyclist Dotsie Bausch, a 2012 silver medalist, reminded the audience of a striking fact: during intense competition, elite athletes inhale roughly twenty times more air–and therefore twenty times more pollution–than a sedentary person.

That reality makes Los Angeles’ air quality challenge impossible to ignore. While reducing temperatures by mitigating GHGs requires long-term, sustained global action, we can dramatically improve air quality here in Los Angeles. 

LA and California have been making progress on clean air for a long time, beginning in the 1950’s. Still, according to the American Lung Association, LA has the dirtiest air in the nation for smog, with thousands of people dying prematurely each year due to air pollution. Unfortunately, recent efforts by the White House are slowing California’s efforts to reduce air pollution and GHG emissions (e.g., the EPA blocked the Advanced Clean Fleet rule, which would have cleaned up emissions from medium to heavy-duty trucks, a huge source of air pollution and GHG emissions). 

As a result, the transition from dirty diesel trucks to zero-emission vehicles is slowing. While Metro is investing billions in subways and light rail to increase transit options, the transition to electric buses has been pushed far into the future. And while our regional air quality district is seeing results from the Inland Empire warehouse mandatory indirect source rule to reduce emissions, there are concerns about the efficacy of the voluntary deal reached with the Ports of LA and Long Beach.

What will LA and California do? Will LA do all it can to get as many zero-emissions cars and trucks on the road by 2028, and the charging–powered with as much clean energy as possible–to support them? Will the legislature and the governor now create a statewide indirect source rule, while providing more funding for incentives for EV cars and trucks? 

And if we succeed, who will benefit from cleaner air?

Certainly, the Olympic and Paralympic athletes who will compete for gold in 2028, as will the visitors and media, who we hope will see clean skies and the EVs on the road to prove how it happened. But most importantly, the young AYSO soccer players, little leaguers, and other children and teens who play in the parks and fields across our region every weekend. And our frontline communities that face a disproportionate level of air pollution in their neighborhoods.  

By the time the Olympic torch arrives in Los Angeles, zero-emission trucks, buses, delivery vehicles, and the chargers that support them should be a common sight across the region–not a rarity. At the same time, we must continue investing in transit so Angelenos have more options to move around without relying on cars–along with safer bike infrastructure and more walkable neighborhoods.

If we succeed, clear skies with visible vistas of the white-capped Tehachapis as we gaze upon Downtown LA might be more commonplace, and representative of  a legacy of cleaner air long after the closing ceremonies.

Through the Transportation Electrification Partnership–and sister Clean Energy Partnership–LACI has been working with the City of LA, County of LA, LADWP, SCE, and local and state agencies, along with the private sector, to use the Games as a catalyst to drive investment into our communities. 

And the opportunity goes beyond cleaner air. Los Angeles can position itself as a global hub for clean transportation and energy innovation–creating high-quality jobs, scaling startups, and demonstrating how major metropolitan regions can accelerate climate solutions while growing their economies.

At this moment and over the next two years, we must continually ask ourselves: How will we shape a 2028 legacy that advances clean air, clean energy, and clean transportation across the Greater LA region? And can we show the world the best of LA, Californian, and, for that matter, American entrepreneurship and innovation?

When millions of spectators, athletes, coaches, and media arrive for the Games–along with billions of viewers tuning in from around the world–we want them to see an inspiring example of a region that has achieved progress previously unimaginable. And after the closing ceremony, we want the solutions we develop to serve our local communities in Los Angeles for decades to come. 

It will not be easy. Previous host cities have not been immune to deadly air pollution and extreme heat. The 2028 Games offer Los Angeles something rare: a clear deadline and a global stage. We can ensure that the legacy of the Games is measured not only in medals, but in cleaner air and stronger communities.

At LACI, we are proud to work alongside local government, public agencies, businesses, startups, and community leaders to help make this vision a reality. In the months ahead, we will continue building the coalition needed to meet this moment–including through our next Road to 2028 Summit planned for July 14 and 15, 2026. We are calling for commitments to action for our next Summit–in December, we had $125M in new commitments for clean transportation, energy, and more.

Los Angeles, let’s meet our Olympic moment together. Join us.