Southern California port chairs clear the air on ôgreenö shift
Port officials from Los Angeles and Long Beach warned hundreds of business and industry leaders on Monday that the ports' recent focus toward environmental awareness is here to stay.
'This is not a change in the way we do business, it’s a change in our entire way of life,' said James Hankla, president of the Long Beach Harbor Commission.
'The ports are searching for partners who think it is good business to be green, because those are the partners who are going to be with us in 20 years,' Hankla said during opening remarks to hundreds of attendees at the third annual Faster Freight-Cleaner Air Conference in Long Beach.
The two neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach make up the fifth-largest port complex in the world. Cited by health officials as one of the leading contributors to air pollution in the Southern California basin, the ports have struggled in recent years to react to public demands to reduce emissions from docked ships, trucks and terminal equipment.
'Talk is cheap,' S. David Freeman, Hankla's counterpart at the Port of Los Angeles told the crowd. 'The time has come to get into serious action, and we have got a plate full, believe me.'
Last year the ports, in partnership with state air quality agencies, developed an extensive list of projects that port officials hope will reduce emissions from the two ports by half within a decade.
Hankla offered a further warning to those industry businesses that have not yet adapted to the new 'green' mindset.
'Change of this magnitude at this rapid pace will gore oxen,' he said. 'Some people are going to be winners, and some are going to be losers. In order to be a winner, I'd certainly begin to look at the manner I use to move my goods through the two ports ' and make it the most environmentally sterile I can.'
Southern California port chairs clear the air on ?green? shift
