In 2006, Communities for Clean Ports led a letter writing campaign aimed at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to adopt an aggressive Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) to swiftly reduce the toxic and climate-changing emissions from port operations. Thousands of you took action, making the case that business-as-usual port pollution will no longer be tolerated. 

In large part because of public involvement, the Ports jointly adopted the CAAP in November 2006, creating the most advanced port air quality plan in the U.S. We intend to keep the Ports to task by ensuring that the CAAP is implemented as soon as possible with the cleanest available technologies.

Here’s the 2006 letter to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach:

_________________________________________________________________

I am one of millions of people directly impacted by pollution from port-related industries on a daily basis. For far too long, we have been forced to pay the full price for pollution - in health, environmental and economic costs - while industry profits by transporting goods through our communities. As a result, our communities suffer disproportionately from serious health ailments like cancer, lung disease and dangerous childhood asthma. And it slows economic growth - because so long as port-related trade is poisoning people, we will aggressively fight efforts to expand it.

So I support a strong, aggressive Clean Air Action Plan from the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. As we all know, affordable, viable alternative fuels and cleaner technologies can be adopted today to dramatically reduce pollution from port-related industries. In the past, all that has been lacking is the will to change. For instance, the following are proven, cost-effective clean air strategies that can be adopted immediately:

- Requiring industry to drastically reduce pollution - before they can get new or renegotiated leases;

- Requiring that ships use 'cold-ironing' - plugging into cleaner electric power while in the harbor - instead of burning 'bunker fuel' (which is 50-100 times dirtier than diesel) while idling in the harbor for days and days;

- Replacing the thousands of old, dirty trucks with new models using clean alternative fuels and technologies;

- Using the cleanest engines and alternative fuels for cargo-handling equipment (i.e., 'yard tractors' or 'yard hostlers')

- Requiring cleaner locomotives - via alternative fuels and advanced emission controls;

- so the $300-billion-a-year port trade industry stops forcing our communities and families to pay all the costs of port-related pollution;

- Enforce existing environmental, zoning and public health laws - to end the 'underground economy' that shortchanges truckers and pollutes local communities.

As the Clean Air Action Plan is considered, I encourage you strongly to fight for aggressive action to reduce pollution now - and to fight against special interests' efforts to delay or water down these life-saving clean air reforms. The time for significant change is today, not tomorrow. We know that trade is about to triple. So we need dramatic action to reduce pollution now. Our lives, our livelihoods and our quality of life are at stake.