AmericasEnvironmentPorts and Logistics

Local politician introduces resolution calling for zero emission shipping at LA and Long Beach ports by 2030

Tuesday saw councilmember Nithya Raman introduce a resolution calling on maritime importers — including Walmart, Ashley Furniture, Target, Dole, Home Depot, Chiquita, IKEA, Amazon, Samsung, Nike, LG, Redbull, Family Dollar, Williams-Sonoma, and Lowes— to commit to making all port calls to at Los Angeles and Long Beach on 100% zero-emissions ships by 2030.

The resolution also would include in the City of Los Angeles’s 2021-2022 State Legislative Program support for legislation or administrative action to rapidly decarbonise the maritime shipping industry and to create zero-emission shipping corridors along the California coast, the west coast of the United States, and across the transpacific trade route.

“Pollution from ships often goes overlooked in our greater conversations on climate change, but the reality is that ship pollution contributes to an estimated 260,000 premature deaths each year globally, and at least 1,300 premature deaths annually in Los Angeles and Long Beach alone,” said Raman. “Our low-income communities of colour living near ports are suffering from higher rates of childhood asthma, cancer, and more, and we simply do not have time to waste to reverse the damage. This resolution is one step towards ensuring we are doing everything in our power to create healthy, breathable port communities.”

“With the horrific oil spill in beautiful Huntington Beach, with extreme climate impacts worsening every day around the world, as we reduce the city’s emissions through our LA100 renewable energy and Climate Emergency Mobilization Office efforts, we must include every sector related to the city in our scope,” said councilmember Paul Koretz, who seconded the resolution.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.

Comments

  1. A solution exists and has done for quite awhile called MSAR by Quadrise Fuels. That could have initially been implemented years ago, but shipping lines who talk a good talk never took it up, rather going for Frankenstein fuels instead.

    Now an improved version is being developed called BioMsar which uses glycerin as the Bio component and delivers 26% CO2 reduction, 30-50% NOx reduction and practically complete burnout of PM/Soot.

    Quadrise is also in partnership with Valkor Engineering who are mining Low Sulphur oil shale in Utah and hopefully will combine to produce Low Sulphur BioMsar to give a perfect transition fuel until the likes of Ammonia, Hydrogen and Methanol come to scale.

    This LSBioMsar could be bunkered from LA if the fuel is transported by rail from Utah and shipping and cruise lines use the fuel,

    But as always depends upon how fast shipping companies want to move and how serious they are about transitioning. Seem to have endless conferences on what should be done, but no actual action to make it happen.

  2. Perhaps reducing road transport (cars, buses and trucks) emissions would achieve something similar and a lot quicker. There is a whiff of hypocrisy in some of the zealot’s rhetoric I fear. The balance between shipping sourced emissions and road traffic needs to be made much more evident.

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