LA blows

The smog that hovers over Los Angeles may soon shrink due to a city project that calls for an alternate source of energy: wind.

According to a story published by the San Francisco Gate, Los Angeles has broken ground in the Tehachapi Mountains for a wind farm project that will produce enough energy to generate 120 megawatts of electricity. The 8,000-acre project, named the Pine Tree Wind Project, will cost $425 million and consist of 80 wind turbines and a high-voltage transmission line. Wind energy experts say that when the project is finished, it will be the largest wind farm operated by a single city utility.

A second wind farm project is also in the works for an adjacent 120-acre piece of land. Together, both wind farms will produce enough energy to power 130,000 homes. The alternative energy is expected to help displace 200,000 tons of greenhouse gas emission—equal to taking 35,000 cars off the road.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told the paper that the project aims to lower pollution and help break dependence on foreign oil. Both projects are part of a pledge for a fifth of the city’s total energy to come from renewable resources by 2010.