C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” left its Washington studio in August to broadcast an interesting program from the Port of Virginia. Over the course of three hours, the program hosted Reps. Scott Rigell, a Virginia Beach Republican, and Bobby Scott, a Democrat who represents Norfolk, as well as Virginia Port Authority Interim CEO Rodney Oliver and VPA Chairman Jeffrey Wassmer, and Kurt Nagle, president of the American Association of Port Authorities.
Nagle did a good job describing the benefits of ports to the nation, their challenges and AAPA’s advocacy role.
The host made a few minor errors, which isn’t bad considering how much time she had to fill. She referred to “super tankers” coming to the East Coast upon the completion of an expanded Panama Canal. Sure, tankers can use the waterway, but the whole discussion during the program involved containerships. I guess she deserves a break because President Obama mentioned “super tankers” too in a speech last summer at a container terminal in Florida where he talked about the importance of port infrastructure.
The host also said the program was coming from the “international terminal.” The set was located at the VPA’s Norfolk International Terminal.
She also mentioned a new rail line being built to the Port of Virginia, but what she must have meant is the improvement of existing rail lines to handle intermodal trains with double-stacked containers. That would be the Heartland Corridor and National Gateway.
I wished Nagle had corrected the host, but I can’t blame him for wanting to be a good guest.
