Editorial: In the face of Trump’s anti-climate change policies, L.A. and Long Beach push for greener ports

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia pledged this week to wean their ports off dirty diesel and other fossil fuels and switch to zero-emission equipment by 2035. This is the most aggressive plan yet to cut air pollution at the ports, by far. And it’s an essential transformation both to clean Los Angeles’ notoriously unhealthy air and to cut the carbon emissions that are fueling climate change.

It’s no coincidence that the two progressive, Democratic mayors are making this announcement now, in the wake of President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. Garcetti is a co-founder and Garcia a member of a coalition of mayors who have pledged to uphold the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals in the Paris agreement.

Together, the two publicly owned ports that the mayors oversee form the single largest source of air pollution in the region, with trucks and ships spewing smog-forming pollutants and cancer-causing diesel particles. The ports are also major emitters of greenhouse gases.

Although the ports have significantly cut emissions over the last decade, they are still largely reliant on diesel- and gas-powered trucks and equipment. They have been under increasing pressure from environmentalists and regulators to stop using fossil-fuel-powered equipment altogether and to switch to electric, hydrogen or other zero-emission technology. The mayors’ joint declaration puts the ports on that track.

Under the agreement, the ports will require the companies operating on their property to switch to zero-emission cargo-handling equipment by 2030 and zero-emission trucks by 2035. It also directs the ports to begin large-scale testing of zero-emission trucks as soon as possible. Garcetti and Garcia hope that by setting a deadline to switch to cleaner equipment at the nation’s largest port complex, they’ll send a message to manufacturers that there is a market for zero-emission vehicles.

There’s little doubt that switching the two ports to zero-emission equipment will be hugely expensive and technologically difficult. The companies that do business at the ports are understandably concerned that the new mandates will make it more expensive to operate and will put the region at a competitive disadvantage with ports elsewhere in the country.

That’s why Los Angeles and Long Beach are wisely taking the lead in creating a new “Green Ports Collaborative” to work with other West Coast seaports to adopt similar zero-emission and pollution-reduction goals. Often these ports are competing against each other for shipping business. Ironically, Trump’s anti-climate change policies may prod them to work together to help drive market innovation, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and clean the dirty air above their facilities.

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