Incoming to LA County ISD: Alycia Gilde on Accelerating Climate Action When Washington Won’t

Alycia Gilde, newly appointed to lead Los Angeles County’s Internal Services Department (ISD) climate initiatives, shares her vision for advancing clean energy deployment at the local level. Drawing on her federal experience shaping zero-emission vehicle strategy at the White House, leadership at CALSTART, and decades of collaboration from New York City to Los Angeles, including her Peace Corps experience in Ghana, West Africa, Gilde brings both national and international expertise to the role. 

In conversation with VX News, she reflects on LA County’s opportunity—and responsibility—to lead when federal momentum on climate falters, emphasizing the power of public-private partnerships and her commitment to making Los Angeles a global model for sustainable transportation and clean energy infrastructure as the region prepares to host the World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.

"This is the moment for [innovation, collaboration, and creativity]....an opportunity for local leadership to set the pace, and LA County intends to do just that." — Alycia Gilde

Alycia, introduce yourself to our readers, and share the focus of your new position with LA County ISD. 

I’m thrilled to be here and take on this new role within LA County’s Internal Services Department (ISD), advancing both transportation and clean energy projects for the county. My career has been dedicated to sustainability. From studying tropical biology in Costa Rica, serving as a Peace Corps environmental volunteer in Ghana, West Africa, and shaping climate policy for transportation at the White House. All these experiences shaped my conviction that we can, and must, make this world better for future generations. 

Now, I’m excited to bring that perspective to LA County: helping build the kinds of partnerships that can put this region on the map as a global model for sustainability. With the World Cup and the Olympics on the horizon, this is our moment to lead.

Elaborate on how your specific experience in the White House and with CALSTART will push the agenda of ISD’s General Manager, Minh Le.

Minh has made it clear: the world is my oyster. He’s giving me the space to be creative and bold—especially in building public-private partnerships that can turn the County’s Climate Action Plan into reality. 

The partnerships I led while I was at the White House were truly innovative, inclusive, and results-driven. Working across government, industry, and community organizations, I was able to build consensus and commitment to decarbonize freight through collaboration, technology, and a shared vision for strategic deployment. At CALSTART, I led the development of California’s largest state incentive programs for zero-emission vehicles, equipment, and infrastructure. Taking these specific experiences, I plan to create cutting-edge partnerships to unite on shared interests for climate mitigation while leveraging resources and investments to accelerate technology deployment for LA County. It is my goal that LA County demonstrates that local government can be scalable and replicable across the United States, and hopefully, around the world. 

With the federal government by all accounts retreating from climate and clean energy leadership, what role do you envision for our County’s ISD?

What excites me, David, is that we now have the chance not just to keep momentum, but to accelerate it. If Washington slows down, then it’s up to the states and local governments to step forward as leaders. This means advancing solutions that are better for our environment, our economy, and our communities.

LA County already has an ambitious Climate Action Plan, with real measures across the entire ecosystem we’re responsible for. But plans only matter if they become action. That’s where the County has to work hand in hand—with other local governments, with the state, and even across state lines—to share what works, what doesn’t, and to prioritize policies, investments, incentives, and partnerships that deliver results.

This is the moment for innovation, for collaboration, and for creativity. We may not be able to rely on the federal government the way we once did—but that’s not an excuse to stall. It’s an opportunity for local leadership to set the pace, and LA County intends to do just that.

Informed by your long career in designing to executing energy and sustainability initiatives, how do you view the federal government’s role in assisting the County and local governments presently?

I love these kinds of questions—so, before I even got to the White House, I’d already spent years working in clean energy and transportation. What was special about my time at the White House was witnessing the drive and perseverance to achieve critical climate goals at the highest level of government and through meaningful collaboration. It opened my eyes to what can be achieved…and what can be achieved together.

At the federal level, especially working with the Department of Energy, I saw what an “all-of-government” approach really looks like. Agencies were working side by side on shared goals, and at the same time, engaging external stakeholders to make sure federal priorities aligned with state, local, and industry needs.

What struck me most was how vital state and local governments are as true champions of climate and clean energy work. Federal policy can set the stage, but local leadership demonstrates what works. When local programs succeed, they can be scaled nationally.

Now that I’m at the County, I feel energized. We’re not “small”—speaking 88 cities—but it is the ‘local’ level, where the real impact happens. This is where we have to be effective at following through on our commitments, bringing diverse perspectives to the table, and moving climate goals forward in ways that communities can see and feel. 

And, just as important, it’s where we need to be transparent, about successes, about challenges, and about how we’re working with partners to solve those challenges.

Your response necessitates asking you to elaborate on our career. What has prepared you for ISD’s responsibilities?

What I love about this opportunity is that, one, I’ve been a transportation gal my entire career. I’ve always focused on: how do I decarbonize anything that moves? How do I make society better? Both for the environment and our communities.

That said, on the national level, I led development of the National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy on behalf of U.S. DOE. That allowed us to work with industry, communities, state and local government, utilities, federal agencies—to prioritize where we need to invest, plan, and scale infrastructure to enable the deployment of commercial zero-emission vehicles. You can take that same framework for scaling clean energy and transportation in LA County.

Now, at the County, I’m also responsible for the buildings, so I get to take that same ecosystem approach, connecting transportation, energy, and infrastructure, to advance sustainability and our Climate Action Plan. And I love that.

Earlier, you mentioned your time with CALSTART. Elaborate on the role you played there and what lessons you carry forward to execute LA County’s Climate Action Plan?

At CALSTART, what I think was really important about that experience is that I designed the initiative that focused on the ecosystem we were trying to advance to be zero-emission. More and more, it became critical that we were looking at the infrastructure necessary to support the successful deployment of clean vehicles, so I designed the Clean Fuels and Infrastructure Initiative for CALSTART.

Along with that, I played a leadership role working with state agencies like the California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission, all the air districts throughout the state, and utilities— to develop solutions to advance commercial ZEVs, including designing incentive programs. I contributed heavily to CARB’s HVIP and designed its Clean Off-Road Equipment Project advancing zero-emission freight. I also designed the Energy Commission’s infrastructure programs for medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, and for their light-duty EV charging for communities.

Why that’s important to the work I’ll be doing at LA County is that it looks at how you support the vehicle ecosystem, especially around electrification. It’s important to be smart about the timeline for deploying infrastructure and making sure that by the time there’s a vehicle coming to charge, there’s a charger in the ground to meet it.

In operations, timing is crucial, as is collaboration with critical stakeholders, adapting to constant technological changes, and being proactive. Those are skill sets I’ll be taking with me to LA County. 

Speak to your port zero-emission freight experience, and to the decarbonization opportunities now possible through emerging technologies.

One of the loves of my life has been working in zero-emission freight. In fact, when I went to the White House, one of my big asks of the President was to bring together the complexity of the freight ecosystem: ports, maritime, rail operations, on-road trucking, terminal operations, and figure out how to break down silos and look at decarbonization in an integrated way.

I’ve managed big emissions inventories like GHGs and criteria pollutants across port ecosystems. I’ve developed Clean Air Action Plans with strategies to decarbonize each sector. I’ve worked with the Ports of LA and Long Beach, New York/New Jersey, Seattle/Tacoma, and Houston in helping them share lessons and confront their toughest decarbonization challenges.

The big takeaway: the technology is real now. Electrification, hydrogen, advanced freight equipment, they’re no longer pilot projects; they’re here. 

The opportunity is to connect them and run a smarter, cleaner, more efficient freight ecosystem. I’ve found success in bringing non-traditional partners into the conversation by getting everyone to the table, looking at the role of technology, and figuring out how it can improve operations, business, and the environment at the same time.

Given the broader transportation decarbonization initiatives you’ve led, what role has—and will—hydrogen play?

Hydrogen absolutely has a role. Over the course of my career, I’ve been fortunate to advance a spectrum of cleaner energy solutions for transportation—from ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and retrofit technologies for school buses, to natural gas, hybrid-electric to fully electric vehicles and equipment. Hydrogen is part of that continuum.

The challenge now is making hydrogen production more affordable, scalable, and reliable. We see applications across light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles, as well as freight and port equipment. For ecosystems like ports, hydrogen holds real promise.

What’s important is that we stay open-minded. Hydrogen isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s a powerful tool in the portfolio. The task ahead is to accelerate pathways for producing hydrogen that are both economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

With CARB’s continuing commitment—and the Governor’s—to advancing the Clean Air Act and other protections even in the face of federal headwinds, how specifically might LA County ISD help implement the state’s climate goals?

I feel extremely fortunate to be joining LA County with a long history of partnership with the California Air Resources Board (CARB). I have tremendous respect for the team at CARB, and my approach will always be to collaborate and serve as a resource to them.

Safeguarding the climate action progress CARB has driven, especially on the mobile source side, is critical. While some policies have faced challenges in the past year, I see opportunity in LA County’s role: convening local government, the private sector, and community stakeholders to co-develop innovative solutions that advance CARB’s objectives. The key is recognizing that none of this can be done in isolation. It requires collaboration across disciplines, building consensus, and uniting around shared goals, then executing on a concrete plan. 

I hope that by leveraging both CARB’s leadership and the industry partnerships I’ve cultivated, we can strengthen alignment and deliver solutions that benefit every community in the county.

Lastly, as you assume your new responsibilities, what immediate priorities might you have on behalf of LA County’s ISD?

My priority is to learn about the team, the operations, and the landscape of LA County. Beyond that, my immediate focus will be partnerships, partnerships, partnerships. Public-private partnerships for climate action are what I see as the most effective way to move this important work forward.