At a press conference at the San Pedro Downtown Harbor Monday morning, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and LA Mayor Eric Garcetti signed a declaration that reinforces their pledge to work together regionally and nationally in advancing the Paris agreement goals.
The mayors’ joint statement commits to advancing clean technology and other efforts to move toward the goal of zero emissions and ensuring the creation and approval of a 2017 CAAP update by November 2017 that is “bold” in achieving a clear timeline and sets measurable milestones to help ensure progress toward near-term regional air-quality attainment goals— including through zero and near-zero technologies— as well as the ultimate goals of zero emissions for cargo-handling equipment by 2030, and zero emissions for on-road drayage trucks serving the ports by 2035.
The updated CAAP also seeks to: expand at-berth emissions reduction; develop pilot programs to test zero-emissions drayage trucks at scale in order to stimulate the production of these vehicles, demonstrate feasibility and provide meaningful data in real-world port operations; and expand technology-advancement programs.
Per the declaration, the twin ports will release a final timeline and process for the development and submission of a proposed final 2017 CAAP update to the combined Boards of Harbor Commissioners by November 2017, as well as a subsequent 2017 CAAP update reporting plan that includes a commitment among the mayors, the boards, staff and all stakeholders to communicate regularly and in a timely manner as the updated CAAP programs are developed and implemented at the ports.
The statement also calls for the creation of a San Pedro Bay CAAP Implementation Stakeholder Advisory Group of key public and private industry stakeholders, including Southern California Edison, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, related Port and City staff, and key partners to advise the ports regarding details of CAAP implementation and further ongoing operational efficiency programs to move toward zero-emissions goods movement.
Furthermore, the declaration sets out to advance a Green Ports Collaborative among fellow “Climate Mayors” and ports on the West Coast— and later expanding nationally— to advance similar goals by working together to reduce emissions and protect public health.
Lastly, the statement affirms the mayors’ commitment to secure public and private partners and necessary funding to implement both 2017 CAAP Update programs and supporting infrastructure from the State of California, the California Air Resources Board, the California Public Utilities Commission, California Energy Commission, the South Coast Air Quality Management District and federal government agencies, along with the ports and industry.
Garcetti spoke first at the press conference, and he the jobs created by the port complex, citing the $398 billion of economic activity it generates. However, he also emphasized the fact that it is a place many call home and that the air quality is important for the health of its residents.
“We’re here today, not to talk about how we can be the biggest, but how we can be the cleanest, how we can fulfill our responsibilities to be great stewards of this space, of this land that, really, is why Los Angeles grew,” Garcetti said. “The pueblo might have been founded downtown, but it was really the dredging of this port that caused us to be able to grow as a city. And we believe strongly up here that [the two ports’] interests are aligned— that they are not mutually exclusive, that we can include good health and a healthy economy together, that as we continue to grow we can train the workforce for the skills they need tomorrow, invest in the infrastructure that we need along the docks, do well for the environmental goals that we set and the health of our residents, all at the same time.”
Garcetti explained that when the CAAP was updated in 2010, officials began a process to revise it “in the right way.” He laid out the new goals for the plan.
“First, we’re going to get the first iteration of the CAAP done by the end of this year,” Garcetti said. “Some folks have questioned our commitment, and we’re here to put it down on paper. We will get this done by November, and no later. Second, the CAAP will provide a road map to get us to our ultimate goal of zero emissions here in our joint ports. And third, we will commit ourselves to launching an initiative with ports up and down the West Coast and eventually across the country. We don’t want people undercutting each other at the price of the residents and their community.”
Garcetti described the goal of building a marketplace that creates a demand for zero-emissions trucks and equipment. The two cities plan to pilot projects in the next few years by seeking the input of the industry on how to deploy 50 to 100 zero-emissions trucks onto roads at one time.
“And do it right,” Garcetti said. “Not just hit political goals or tell our environmental friends we have it on paper, but to actually make it work out there in the real world.”
He explained that the process would begin by using shorter routes, working with drivers and operators to determine how they perform, then apply those lessons.
“This is really brave, new territory,” he said. “We were talking inside privately— we’ll set these goals, and there will be setbacks. There might be scientific setbacks. They might be that the technology’s not there. But, if we don’t keep pushing— and if we don’t have those goals— we might never get there. At other times, we will surpass our goals. We will see technologies emerge more quickly than we ever thought possible, but only because we stay unified and have a joint commitment.”
Garcetti said the need for bold commitment to clean air is more urgent than ever before, considering Trump’s environmental actions.
“We saw just two weeks ago the president of this country withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord,” he said. “I couldn’t be prouder to be a representative of a local government. Climate Mayors, a group that I cofounded and currently chair, had about 60 cities that had joined with us over the last three years to be a part of that. Today, that number stands at more than 300 because of the work that we did to make sure that cities, including Long Beach and Los Angeles, said, ‘If this president gets out of Paris, you can count us in.’… Washington may not care about clean air or think that environmental justice for people who live near our ports is anything to be concerned about, but you can be damn sure that we do. These are our communities. We’re not letting anyone move us backward.”
When Garcia took to the podium, he remarked on the clear skies that morning and the noticeable difference in the local air quality compared to just a decade ago.
“I know most of you, like I, can remember what the air actually looked like just 10 years ago, 20 years ago,” Garcia said. “And the work that has happened from the environmental side over this last decade— in particular through the ports— has produced the kind of air quality that we have today that we can see in the sky here in San Pedro.”
Like the Los Angeles mayor, Garcia described Trump’s action on the Paris Accord as “a step backward when it comes to environmental protection across the country and across the world.” Garcia said the mayors’ cooperation is a direct statement indicating that the ports will not “go backwards in the country and in the region.”
“We will push back every single step of the way to ensure that we meet the goals of the Paris agreement and that Los Angeles and Long Beach continue to lead when it comes to clean air and environmental protection,” he said.
He added that, as consolidation occurs across the shipping industry, the two ports must continue to work together as one voice as much as possible.
The agreement between the two cities was signed the same day the Port of Long Beach announced that new vessel-sharing alliances and increased use of terminals pushed the number of containers flowing through the port last month to make it the second-highest May in the Port’s history, behind May 2006.
