Time to Clean up port pollution
What would you do if you were told that your children had twice the chance of developing asthma and 20 times the risk of getting cancer?
Unfortunately, this is a reality for families living in regions around California's major ports in Alameda, Los Angeles and Long Beach. That is why the Legislature should pass, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should sign, Senate Bill 974. The bill by Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, would fund air pollution cleanup and rail improvements at California's largest ports.
The overall economic impact from port pollution-related health problems is estimated to be $61 billion a year. This includes the 1.1 million students who stay home from school every day due to the health effects associated with pollution from the goods-movement industry. Additionally, 12,000 workdays were lost last year because of pollution from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
But port pollution isn't just making us sick; it's making us late.
Analysts estimate that traffic congestion near ports in California cost the state $10 billion in 2003. By 2020, three times as much cargo will pass through California's ports, and truck traffic is expected to increase by 65 percent.
The economic costs to our state pale in comparison to the human toll of port pollution.
Steve Westly is the former state controller and is currently CEO of the Westly Group, a venture capital firm that invests in clean technology companies.
According to the California Air Resources Board, an estimated 2,400 Californians die prematurely each year due to pollution from transporting goods. In Long Beach, 15 percent of children have been diagnosed with asthma, almost double the national average.
SB 974 is a common sense solution to this environmental, public health and economic problem. The bill calls for a $30 fee on all cargo containers entering California's three major ports. Half of the funds would go toward cleaning up existing sources of air pollution, and the other half would be used for infrastructure improvements, including rail, that would reduce our dependence on diesel-powered trucks to transport goods. Diesel accounts for most of the pollution at our ports. Common sense air mitigation practices and increasing rail usage will make our ports and our air cleaner for future generations.
As a lifelong environmentalist and clean-tech investor, I know there is a role for the private sector to play as well. The clean-tech revolution is taking place in California, and there are a number of companies developing products that can help clean up our ports, including alternative fuels. The private sector can, and will, provide the solutions to the public health and economic challenges we face in California as a result of air pollution, but it requires an equal commitment from government to make it possible.
Cleaning up our ports and preparing for the future shouldn't be a partisan issue; it's a practical issue that requires immediate action. As stewards of this great state, we have a responsibility to our children, and to future generations, to leave the environment in better shape than it was when we inherited it. SB 974 addresses the problem in a comprehensive way, and for this reason I urge the governor, the Legislature and all Californians to support it. Parents should never have to choose between where they live and their children's health.
Steve Westly is the former state controller and is currently CEO of the Westly Group, a venture capital firm that invests in clean technology companies.
