Here's the Los Angeles Times article to which this following was posted as a “comment:”
Yet, turf grass vs. non-turf grass is not what most are discussing. Rather, it's getting more bang for the buck from the landscape. As Los Angeles-based TreePeople has said, just 1” of rain generates 3.8 Billion gallons of (polluted) runoff in Los Angeles. Surfrider's approach is called Ocean Friendly Gardens, which “apply CPR - Conservation, Permeability and Retention - to landscapes and hardscapes to revive our watersheds, waterways and oceans:”
It's part of our integrated approach to water called www.knowyourh2o.org. Los Angeles Department of Water & Power is developing a Stormwater Capture Master Plan to compliment their turf replacement program and Metropolitan Water District's holistic class, the California Friendly Landscape Training. In surveys we've done, people say they'd take advantage of landscape rebates if they could find a competent professional to coach them. That is why Surfrider chapters have worked with training companies like G3/Green Gardens Group to do hands-on workdays to train the workforce.
(I forgot to add that an OFG can capture much more carbon than turf grass.)