Villaraigosa, boss of Korean Air plant Chinese elms

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's effort to put his Million Trees program back on track received some major help today from Korean Air, which will donate $160,000 over the next four years to help plant trees across Los Angeles.

The airline’s chairman and chief executive,Yang-Ho Cho, flew across the Pacific to join Villaraigosa at John H. Liechty Middle School just west of downtownLos Angeles to kick off the partnership and plant a couple of Chinese elms.

Million Trees  was a cornerstone of Villaraigosa’s environmental agenda but ran into criticism  last year because it relied so heavily on tree giveaways -- primarily the distribution of seedlings, which have a high mortality rate.

So far, just 200,000 trees have been planted.

Cho, a USC graduate, said Korean Air’s donation commemorates the airline’s 40th anniversary and builds on the company's successful tree-planting program in China and Mongolia. Los Angeles is home to the largest population of people of Korean descent outside  Korea.

Cho also vowed to make L.A.’s annual Environmental Youth Conference a global event.

-- Phil Willon

Comments

[Steve]

Hopefully Antonio didn't plant them in front of a billboard, otherwise they'll be chopped down tomorrow

[phantom71]

When is Tony going to do something other than show up at ribbon cutting events? Where's the talk of immigration, job creation, better education? Maybe he should try getting a computer lab into mor high schools. Maybe he should try to get school supplies into teachers hands so that they don't have to send a paper home with my kids titled 'Teachers Wish List." 23% of Los Angeles lives below the poverty line. When is the guy gonna do something substantial? Or...does another generation of students have to fail before he follows though on his promise to be an education mayor?