Pacific Merchant Shipping Association President John McLaurin said emissions could just end up being switched to other parts of the country.
John McLaurin, the president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, is cautioning that a drive to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in California could result in a reduction in cargo moving through its ports.
Noting the global shipping industry is already struggling financially and may lose $6 billion to $10 billion this year, he said in a speech to the Propeller Club of Los Angeles and Long Beach on Wednesday that “public policy requirements dealing with greenhouse gas emissions that are ineffective and illusory could also be particularly harmful from an economic standpoint for the maritime industry.”
Ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach handled about 32 percent of the country’s containerized cargo in 2015 according to figures from the American Association of Port Authorities, but McLaurin noted there has been an increase in “attractive and alternative trade gateways.”
“Environmental policy development requires sound economic analysis – and in the case of trade gateways, a port competitiveness component,” he said. “Requiring an industry to invest billions at a time when money is scarce should be pursued with data and thorough analysis. If the goal is to address and positively impact climate change, then our public agencies and political leadership should not just be focused on headlines or numbers on a chart detailing emission reductions, they should also be focused on our ports exporting California products and public policy objectives that will be readily embraced and adopted by others.”
In his speech, McLaurin described sundry public policy initiatives to reduce greenhouse gases.
He said California Governor Jerry Brown has issued executive orders to:
• Establish a California greenhouse reduction target of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050;
• Increase the amount of electricity California derives from renewable sources from one-third to 50 percent by 2030;
• Reduce petroleum use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent;
• And double the energy efficiency savings from existing buildings.
In response to an executive order from Brown, several state agencies delivered a “California Sustainable Freight Action Plan” in July, emphasizing the phase out of liquid fossil fuels in favor of powering vehicles and vessels in California with fuels that have zero or near-zero emissions.
“It will fundamentally change and dramatically increase the cost of freight transported in California,” McLaurin said.
Earlier this month, McLaurin said South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) – which includes the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach – released a revised 2016 Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP) for the South Coast Air Basin.
McLaurin said the plan includes a handful of measures targeting ports, railroads, and warehousing that could use so-called “facility caps” that “may limit the number of ships, trucks, or trains in and out of freight facilities.”
He also noted the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are expected to unveil a revised Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) shortly that will be expanded to include greenhouse gas reduction and zero emissions equipment. That “CAAP 3.0” is expected to complement and support the implementation of the California Air Resources Board’s Sustainable Freight Action Plan.
Phillip Sanfield, a spokesman for the Port of Los Angeles, said there will be a meeting on Nov. 17 in Long Beach where the two ports will be unveiling the plans for updating the CAAP.
“We may be releasing a document before the meeting that outlines the general direction as we solicit input,” he said, also noting how the “plan is to solicit stakeholder input, finalize the plan and have both port harbor commissions vote on it in spring 2017.”
McLaurin also noted Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has named a Sustainable Freight Advisory Panel whose goal is to expand the use of zero-emissions technology at the Port of Los Angeles. The mayor’s goal is for 15 percent of goods movement trips to be zero emission by 2020 and 25 percent by 2030.
As the focus of California clean air policy moves from public health to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preventing climate change, he said the tools being used “have a critical flaw in that they are based on arbitrary geographic domains, whereas greenhouse gas emissions are global in scope and impact, irrespective of where they are emitted.”
McLaurin warned, “If state and local policies end up being too restrictive, too expensive and drive business away, the state policy fails on several levels – it won’t reduce emissions, it will only relocate them – having no impact on halting or reversing global warming.
“More importantly, greenhouse gas emissions follow cargo – they are inseparable,” he said. “When the cargo leaves, it takes the emissions with them. While it might be declared a victory by some for being out of sight and out of mind by shifting greenhouse gas emissions from one air shed to another, in reality the environment and the economy are both losers with the underlying public policy becoming a mere phantasmagorical show.”
California’s efforts to curb greenhouse gases could harm ports, freight industry
