City Council Addresses L.A. Port Pollution With New Cargo Fees For New Cleaner Fuel Burning Trucks

I know that Mark Pisano of SCAG has declared an emergency over the pollution caused by the Ports of Los Angeles. And they are pushing for new trucks and vehicles that burn cleaner fuel, to replace the older "Diesel Death Zone" trucks that roll down the 710 and through the L.A. basin. So yesterday, L.A. City Council took the first step toward this expensive goal by backing a Harbor Department plan that will charge $35 per loaded container, with the money going to buy new vehicles that burn cleaner fuel.

The Harbor Department will charge $35 for each loaded container carried by trucks, with the proceeds going to buy vehicles that use cleaner fuels.

The clean truck program hopes to raise about $800 million for new "alternative-fuel" vehicles rolling out of the L.A. Port.

LA Times reports, "The council unanimously endorsed a Board of Harbor Commissioners ban on all diesel trucks built before 1989 from the port starting Oct. 1. The ban, which is also taking effect in the Port of Long Beach, will be expanded in 2012 to include diesel trucks built before 2007."

ZUMA DOGG SPEAKS ON IMPORTANCE OF L.A. PORTS TO U.S. ECONOMY


MARK PISANO, Executive Director for SCAG (Southern California Association of Governments) delivered a warning to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and President George Bush regarding Southern California's dangerous air quality and demanded their help in solving what Pisano calls, "the most serious health crisis in the United States."

"I have NEVER seen anything like this", declared Pisano, at today's monthly SCAG Regional Conference in Downtown Los Angeles. "We face a health crisis, and I'd say the most serious health crisis in the United States! Not only damaging our health, but leading to premature death, and we can't stand by for that. I am here to say, 'We have a national emergency and a national crisis in the region and we need to stand together most and create the most imaginative, creative and aggressive efforts.' But we can't do it without help and support at the state and national level."

"This is a federal emergency situation and we are not going to stand for small incremental changes anymore. Multiple state and federal action is needed. We need to up the ante", adds Pisano.

So what is at the root of the air quality crisis? The Ports. SCAG claims this isn't about your average gridlock commuter traffic jams. What is causing the nation's biggest health crisis (according to Pisano) are the planes, trucks , ships, farm equipment, construction equipment and recreational vehicles. So the ships coming into the port and the trucks that move it along the 710 are a big culprit. And Pisano is trying to make the State and entrie nation (George Bush) realize we are absorbing all of the harmful risk for the entire nation's good, so they need to help out with solutions.

Problem with getting trucks to switch over to newer, cleaner technologies, where and when available, is the low paying truckers can't afford the newer, more expensive technologies.
Click here for full Zuma Times article.

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Click here for full LA Times "Ports" article.
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See top comment in this comment section for some good insights by Matt "Guitar" Dowd.