Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has unveiled a plan that he says would create enough solar power to meet 10 percent of the city’s electricity needs by 2020. Villaraigosa said that a combination of new, large-scale solar plants and more widespread use of solar panels among residents can produce 1,280 megawatts of power for the city, roughly equivalent to a large coal-fired power plant. The mayor’s plan calls for solar generation from 3 sources: 500 megawatts from plants built by Antonio Villaraigosa

private companies in the Mojave Desert; 380 megawatts from city programs that would help low-income families add solar panels to their homes; and 400 megawatts from a program to add solar panels to city-owned buildings. While environmentalists and city officials are encouraged by Villaraigosa’s proposal, some question the economics of the program, which relies on the city giving large tax credits and receiving sizable volume discounts from makers of solar panel arrays.

As 8,000 delegates prepare to meet for climate talks in Poland next week, environmental officials are growing increasingly concerned that the global economic slump and falling energy prices will slow efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Numerous countries, including Poland and Italy, argue that they cannot ask their industries to invest in a switch to renewable and clean energy technologies during a recession. Meanwhile, some alternative energy companies are running into financial difficulties as low oil and coal prices make renewables look comparatively expensive and as banks tighten up on credit for new solar, wind, and ocean energy projects. FPL Group, the largest U.S. wind power operator, has cut 2009 spending by 25 percent and shares of China-based Suntech — the world’s largest maker of solar power arrays — have fallen 90 percent this year. One bright spot, officials say, is President-elect Barack Obama’s promise to cut greenhouse gas emissions and pursue a shift to renewable energy in spite of the recession.