President Clinton hailed the initiative, saying "This is the best place in the world, in the U.S. at least, to lead this." He equated the retrofit to taking 6,000 cars off the road.

According to city hall the project will cut emissions by 40,500 tons and save $10 million annually.

And Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said making Los Angeles the greenest city in the United States would be building a bridge to a sustainable future. Projections claim the LED street lights drop energy usage from 197 million kilowatt-hours to 132 million kilowatt-hours during the next 10 years.

Clinton added money from new President Barrack Obama’s $787 billion federal stimulus package will be used to fund environmental efforts similar to the Los Angeles LED street light program; MSNBC reports.

Hey, pay me enough money and I’ll live by candlelight!

Via Earth First.