<\/span>The plan is comprehensive, addressing the wide range of emission sources associated with the ports and goods movement.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\nHowever, I’m concerned about the potential for success in the very first major CAAP program to come out the gate: <\/span>the Clean Trucks Program. <\/span>The truck program has been controversial from the first moment of its release back in April. <\/span>It would fundamentally change the structure of the port trucking industry by requiring companies doing business with the ports to obtain a concession, meet certain environmental standards, and use only employee drivers within five years. <\/span>Currently, companies largely use truck owner-operators who drive as contractors. <\/span>Because rates for trucking services are so low, many of these drivers cannot afford to take all the steps needed to reduce emissions. <\/span>Indeed, the oldest, most polluting trucks are the cheapest as well, and contribute substantially to emissions from goods movement. <\/span>The Port program would subsidize the cost of new or upgraded trucks.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\nTrucking companies believe the program will disrupt the flow of goods by creating a shortage of drivers, and many smaller companies fear they will go out of business. <\/span>Many drivers, meanwhile, support the program as a way of gaining greater income, benefits, and employment stability. <\/span>Trucking associations are poised to sue if the program is adopted as proposed – which means that we in Long Beach and other port-affected cities will continue to wait for cleaner air.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\nThe Ports delayed adoption of the program for two months (until September) while regional economist John Husing coordinated a detailed study of its likely economic impact. <\/span>Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, a key organizer of the environment-labor Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, has released its own economic impact study. <\/span>I hope that these economic studies will not disagree, but will illuminate this complex issue. <\/span>I fervently hope that the Clean Trucks Program comes to the Boards of Harbor Commissioners in a form that will not provoke litigation, but rather proceed smoothly and quickly to mitigation of emissions so we can all breathe easier.<\/span><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-6165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hi-lo","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6165"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=6165"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=6165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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