Clean Air Action Plan and Your Health

At the Coalition for Clean Air, we prioritize the important stuff. We run a lean operation and there are always more problems than we have the staff, time, and money to fix. The San Pedro Bay Ports, which include the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, are the largest source of air pollution in the most polluted air basin in the country. We’ve made them one of our highest priorities.

Last Thursday, they released their Clean Air Action Plan Update. While we are pleased to know they’ve set a zero-emission target for 2035, it is critical that they strengthen the interim steps needed to reduce emissions today. When we know that diesel truck emissions are responsible for an ever increasing list of health impacts, every year we wait to reduce emissions is another year people die. The freight industry is responsible for 40% of the region’s smog-forming emissions*.

The Draft Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP)  must focus on the ultimate goal of making the air safe to breathe for all residents living in the vicinity of the Ports, regardless of the goods movement growth projections. We appreciate the inclusion of a greenhouse gas emission reduction target, but the other air pollution targets need to updated and strengthened. This document has to be about accountability, and metrics for success are critical. The CAAP must send a clear signal that reliance on fossil fuels will come to an end.

California needs to move urgently to slash emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, including trucks, locomotives, ships and buses, and other equipment used in goods movement, construction and agriculture. Policies should spur the development and deployment of the cleanest viable vehicles and technologies.

It is critical that the Ports take steps to reduce pollution immediately, especially when there are plans and technologies that will drastically reduce emissions. Join us in demanding the Ports put the cleanest trucks on the road today.

Critical next opportunities to help us improve the CAAP: