Stewardship & Care of the Environment

The rising average temperature of the earth's oceans and near-surface atmosphere, as well as the pollution of the atmosphere, pose threats to the survival, health and livelihoods of large populations.

Global warming needs to be dealt with personally, locally, nationally and internationally.  Achim Steiner, the head of the United Nations Environment Program, has spoken of a need for “a new ethic in which every person changes lifestyle, attitude and behavior.”  U.S. policy regarding climate change will be the focus of intense discussion due to domestic political pressure and international negotiations which began in December of 2007 to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

The reduction of the emission of air pollutants is an acute need of the local port area, its transportation corridors, and whole air basin of which it is a part.  The combined ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the largest in the United States, bringing in more than 40% of all containerized trade in the nation and accounting for approximately $300 billion in annual trade.  Economic forecasts suggest that the volume of cargo moving in and out of the ports will more than double by the year 2020.  The ships carrying this cargo are the greatest source of air pollution in the Long Beach-Wilmington-San Pedro area, and the ships combined with truck and rail traffic make the Los Angeles air basin one of the most polluted regions in the U.S.

Effects of global warming:  The rise in sea level cannot be accurately estimated at this time but is projected to be between 7 inches and 2 feet in this century.  A variety of health effects will occur, some resulting from changes in the ranges of disease carriers such as mosquitoes and ticks.  Agricultural yields will change and are likely to be adverse in many developing countries.  Many species of plants and animals will become extinct.  Greater competition for scarce resources may lead to civil unrest, large-scale migrations, and higher risk of armed conflict.

Health effects of air pollution:  The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has reported a strong link between elevated particulate matter (PM) levels and premature deaths, increased hospitalization for respiratory and cardiovascular causes, asthma and other respiratory symptoms, acute bronchitis, and work loss days.  Ozone is linked to premature death, hospital admissions and school absence days.  Attaining the California PM and ozone air quality standards statewide would prevent about 9000 premature deaths annually (about 4% of all deaths).  A cost of $2.3 billion is associated with hospitalizations and treatment of illness related to air pollution in California.  The value of preventing premature deaths is estimated by CARB to be $70 billion.  These figures for the state of California as a whole imply a much more ominous picture of death and physical harm for those who live, work or attend school near the ports and along the main goods movement corridors of Southern California.

Plans:  Major planning efforts took place in 2006.  Some continuation of planning occurred in 2007, along with both controversy about and progress toward implementation. Also in 2007, various plans for expanding port and port-related facilities came into view.  A total of 84 expansion projects are planned.

In November of 2007 the Harbor Commissions of both Los Angeles and Long Beach approved a schedule for phasing out the older of the 16,000 trucks now serving the ports.  This was the first and least controversial step in creating a Clean Truck Program, which is to be the Ports' first project for implementing their Clean Air Action Plan to which they gave final approval on November 20, 2006.  The leading advocate for a strong Clean Truck Program including an improved status for the truck drivers has been the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports.  The final version of California’s Goods Movement Action Plan was released January 11, 2007. The related state Emission Reduction Plan for Ports and Goods Movement was completed in 2007.  The South Coast Air Quality Management District likewise completed preparation of its 2007 Air Quality Management Plan.  Work on a Multi-County Goods Movement Action Plan continued in 2007.  The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) will complete its update to the Regional Transportation Plan in 2008.

Two major expansion plans are expected to be reviewed in 2008.  The first will be TraPac.  TraPac currently handles about 892,000 TEUs per year (the equivalent of 892,000 twenty-foot long containers).  Under the proposed expansion TraPac will have the capacity for handling 2.4 million TEUs annually by the year 2027.  The second to be reviewed with be the rail yard and container transfer station that the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad is planning to build next to the Terminal Island Freeway between Sepulveda Blvd. and Pacific Coast Highway.  This inter-modal facility is projected to service one million container trucks per year.

Action Plan

The Social Concerns Committee’s Action Plan calls for raising public awareness of and promoting more widespread involvement with preventing global warming and local air pollution.  In both cases this will involve (1) expanding our contacts with and involvement with local groups and organizations and expanding our sources of information and (2) forming teams to collect information and draft announcements, reports, action alerts, advocacy documents, and plans for campaigns and events. 

In the case of global warming we expect to work closely with the Environmental Priorities Network.  In the case of air pollution we will continue our connection with the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, the Coalition for a Safe Environment, Communities for Clean Ports, the Goods Movement Task Force of the Southern California Association of Governments, and THE Impact Project.  The main event that the committee is planning to sponsor (or co-sponsor with other organizations) is an educational forum on the anticipated economic and health effects of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway’s proposed inter-modal rail yard, which they are calling the Southern California International Gateway (SCIG).

List of Resources  

Global Warming

Natural Resources Defense Council

Forecast Earth

Environmental Defense 

The National Environmental Trust