The port of Long Beach is one of the major gateways for imports into the U.S. There are hundreds of diesel trucks there at any one time, engines idling (and polluting), waiting to get a container loaded onto its trailer from one of those gigantic container ships. From there the load takes a 50-60 mile trip to the hundreds of warehouses in the Inland Empire (San Bernardino, Riverside, Ontario, etc) for distribution. Here is an ideal situation for something like the Tesla Semi. The Long Beach port authority has to limit the amount of truck idling because of air pollution from the diesels. Electric semis will make a big difference.
Update on Port of Long Beach environmental policy (from LA Times):
LA, Long Beach ports plan for zero emissions
BY TONY BARBOZA Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES
The nation痴 largest port complex approved a sweeping plan Thursday to slash air pollution by encouraging the phase-out of diesel trucks in favor of natural gas and, ultimately, zero-emission trucks and cargo-handling equipment over the next two decades.
The Clean Air Action Plan, unanimously adopted at a joint meeting of Los Angeles and Long Beach harbor commissioners, provides a framework for transforming the massive hub for freight-moving trucks, trains and ships to cleaner technologies through 2035. But it leaves many details undetermined, including who will pay for up to $14 billion in cleaner trucks and equipment and which industries will benefit.
The plan is the most significant and expensive environmental initiative yet by the ports, which have sought to distinguish themselves from competitors over the last decade by pioneering air quality improvements, some of which have been replicated by other seaports and enshrined by California regulators.
Despite dramatic reductions in diesel emissions under the port痴 2006 clean-air plan, the Angeles-Long Beach port complex remains the largest single source of air pollution in Southern California, with progress tapering off in recent years.
State and local air quality regulators say attacking the ports overwhelmingly diesel-fueled operations is crucial to cleaning the nation痴 worst smog to meet federal health standards, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and easing asthma, lung cancer and other pollution-triggered health problems from harbor-area communities to the Inland Empire region.
Also to be seen are the economic impacts of transforming the ports, which handle about 40 percent of U.S. imports, and support hundreds of thousands of jobs across Southern California. Though the volume of shipping containers moving through the complex has tripled since the mid-1990s, the ports face increasing competition from East and Gulf Coast ports, which have less stringent environmental mandates.
By adopting the plan, the ports are expecting businesses and taxpayers to foot the bill for improvements in air quality and public health. They are also sending a signal to manufacturers there will be demand for cleaner trucks and freight-moving equipment, and ultimately, models with no tailpipe emissions.
Another question is how quickly the ports strategies will reduce emissions and whether they will satisfy the demands of state and local regulators, who are increasingly targeting port pollution for reductions they say are crucial to reduce health risks and clean smog in time to meet federal deadlines.
While the plan outlines goals to switch to zero-emission cargo-handling equipment by 2030 and trucks by 2035 and slash greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050, it lacks new targets for reducing smog-forming emissions.
Key to the plan is a new Clean Trucks Program that aims to phase out oldest, dirtiest diesel trucks, transition to cleaner natural gas models, and ultimately switch to electric and other zero-emissions models.
Starting mid-2018, new big rigs entering the ports registry must have engines of model year 2014 or newer, which must meet more stringent emissions standards.
In 2020, trucks will have to meet a stricter, near-zero-emissions standard, or be charged a fee to enter port terminals.
Starting in 2023, trucks must meet or exceed the near-zero emissions standard to enter the registry.
By 2035, only zero-emission vehicles will be exempt from those charges.
Before casting their votes, harbor commissioners heard from environmentalists, community groups and local elected officials, some holding their asthma inhalers, who expressed disappointment with the plan. They said it does not go far enough.
