LA is deep in the red, but has money for this.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will lead a delegation of nearly a dozen Los Angeles officials to Copenhagen this week as part of a business and environmental trip tied to the Copenhagen Climate Conference.

Villaraigosa will leave Saturday for his first stop in Berlin, where he will meet with government and business leaders involved in the solar power movement.

“The mayor hopes to advance some talks that have been going on and talk of the benefits that are available in Los Angeles with tax breaks in economic zones and the Community Redevelopment areas,” spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said Monday.

Europe and the 27 countries in the European Economic Community account for $30 billion in business in Los Angeles and, Villaraigosa said, there is wide interest in what Los Angeles has done on the environmental front.

“In four years – and no one thought it was possible – the DWP has gone from 4 percent renewables to 15 percent and we are looking to get to 20 percent,” Villaraigosa told a group of environmental leaders Monday meeting in his office, where he talked of his plans for the summit.

Yep, and rates have shot up. Way to go, Speedy.