Or at least, I have, along with about 35 of my neighbors from both sides of the San Pedro Bay, Wednesday night at the International Elementary School in downtown Long Beach. The Port of Long Beach has begun holding a series of “Let’s Talk Port” sessions in communities around the city. This week’s was the first I’d been able to get to, so I thought I’d fill you in in case you have likewise been too busy to attend.
We met in the school auditorium, or possibly cafetorium, with several round tables in the center of the room and display tables to one side reflecting various aspects of port operations. Across the room were coffee, cookies and lemonade. People gathered between 7 and about 7:30, when Port Executive Director Dick Steinke gave a PowerPoint presentation that largely reprised his “State of the Port” address a few weeks back. Harbor Commission President Mario Cordero and the newest Harbor Commissioner, Nick Sramek, were also in attendance, along with several of the senior Port staff.
The questions from the audience were quite far-ranging. The first following the presentation had to do with the Port’s earthquake preparedness, in the wake of the 75th anniversary on Monday, March 10th, of the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Port officials explained that they have an emergency management program in place that includes radio communications with the city and “reverse 911” procedures to alert residents as needed. They also have business continuity plans to ensure that work disruptions are minimal and cargo keeps moving. These plans can benefit city residents since they entail rebuilding roads used by port (and other) traffic and protecting port employees who live in Long Beach. In response to a question from a young attendee about asthma, Dick Steinke recapped measures already taken to reduce emissions, such as vessel speed reduction and adoption of low-sulfur fuel, as well as those still forthcoming in the Port’s Clean Air Action Plan. He also mentioned the ports’ real-time air quality monitoring data, available on line. Another question had to do with how much Port revenue can go to the City of Long Beach and another with implementation of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program for port worker security.
Other questions dealt, inevitably, with the Port’s recent action on the Clean Truck Program. Long Beach resident and port trucker Oscar Tarelo, whose children attend International, said that he felt the Port’s program would be ineffective in cleaning up truck emissions because non-employee drivers could not afford to buy or maintain cleaner trucks. (His views are supported by the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, an alliance of environmental groups and the Teamsters union.) Dick Steinke respectfully disagreed with this opinion, saying he felt the Port’s plan offered several ways for both trucking companies and individual owner-operators to buy and maintain new trucks. The two also disagreed over how effectively the program would be enforced and new trucks inspected.
Probably the biggest and philosophically most challenging question raised – even before the presentation was over – was the continuing consumption of goods by Americans, which of course largely drives the flood of cargo moving to and through our region. More than one audience member opined that our consumption trends are not sustainable and that the public should be encouraged not to buy so much… stuff. (It’s true that in my house, there are three TV’s for two people!) In response, Commissioner Cordero acknowledged that globalization has had negative effects, but said that we are not going to back away from it. Instead, he said, we should look at how globalization can help our city and nation. In his view, it offers us the opportunity to harness technology to our benefit and to grow “green technology” jobs to support the middle class. (I couldn’t agree more.)
Next week, when the Port of Los Angeles is scheduled to vote on its own Clean Truck Program, I’ll try and make sense of their decision as it relates to the action taken by Long Beach.