News Release
Air Pollution ÔPerfect StormÕ Survey of Top 10 Ports Urges Action at National Level
Study Ranks U.S. Container Ports Among NationÕs Biggest Polluters,
— Goods Movement at Ports Growing Dramatically, Air Pollution Should Not —
Boulder, CO (February 4, 2008) -- U.S. ports are among the biggest sources of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in their cities, and progress toward reducing harmful emissions has been slow, according to a new research study conducted by Energy Futures, Inc.
Titled ÒU.S. Container Ports and Air Pollution: a Perfect Storm,Ó the report on the study presents findings of a 10-month effort in 2007 that assessed air pollution control efforts at AmericaÕs top 10 container ports. Study author and Energy Futures President James Cannon made on-site research visits to each of the ports, which together handle about 80 percent of all U.S. imports. Ports included in the study were: Los Angeles, CA; Long Beach, CA; New York and neighboring New Jersey; Oakland, CA; Savannah, GA; Tacoma, WA; Hampton Roads, VA; Seattle, WA; Charleston, SC; and Houston, TX.
Ports pose grave health risks to millions of people living in metropolitan coastal areas, especially those living nearest the ports. ÒThe combination of growing U.S. port activity, the densely populated regions where most ports are located, and the prevailing onshore wind patterns that accumulate rather than disperse port air pollution create a Ôperfect stormÕ of threats to public health,Ó Cannon said.
Cannon explained, ÒWeÕve concluded that the best way to lower air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and diversify fuel supply at U.S. container ports is to use alternative fuels or advanced technologies to replace diesel.Ó The study found that natural gas is currently the leading alternative fuel for goods movement.
Each step of the goods movement process today — from delivery of goods to ports and from there by truck or rail to U.S. consumers — is powered by diesel fuel. Burning diesel fuel releases health-threatening toxic air contaminants, smog-forming air pollution and climate-changing greenhouse gases.
Container ports are one of the fastest growing business sectors in the U.S., according to Energy Futures. Oceangoing container cargo ships make more than 10,000 visits annually to American ports. Container shipments rose 80 percent in the last decade alone, with nearly 45 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers unloaded or loaded at U.S. marine ports in 2006.
Programs to counteract the pollution problem are progressing now at several of the ports under study, most notably in California, the report indicates. Six projects are currently underway in the state to deploy fleets of natural gas-powered cargo handling vehicles. Efforts to replace diesel fuel with clean-burning liquefied natural gas (LNG) are in process at the three largest container ports in California --- Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland.
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The Energy Futures report is a call to action at the national level to reduce air pollution at U.S. container ports. Decision makers must develop policies designed to maintain port growth momentum, while preserving public health and environmental quality. ÒPort air pollution is bad and getting worse,Ó warns Cannon. A patchwork of local programs, however innovative, cannot equitably finance cleanup efforts or solve this disturbing national problem.
Based on its ÒPerfect StormÓ research findings, Energy Futures has developed policy recommendations as the national debate about how to combat growing air pollution at U.S. ports intensifies. The report urges decision makers to:
ÒU.S. Container Ports and Air Pollution: A Perfect StormÓ was researched and written by Energy Futures, an independent environmental and energy research firm, over a 10-month period in 2007. The report includes brief histories of each port, overviews of their management structure, a description of their equipment and operating procedures, and in-depth reviews of their efforts to reduce air pollution and global warming impact. (To obtain an electronic download of the full report, visit www.energy-futures.com)
About Energy Futures, Inc.
James S. Cannon is President of Energy Futures, Inc., which was founded in Boulder, Colorado in 1979 to study energy and related environmental issues in the transportation sector. Cannon has investigated alternative transportation fuels since 1986, and is the author or editor of five books on the topic, more than a dozen reports, and over 50 professional papers. He is also the publisher and editor-in-chief of two international transportation periodicals owned by Energy Futures — The Clean Fuels and Electric Vehicles Report and Hybrid Vehicles. Cannon holds an A.B. degree in chemistry from Princeton University, and an M.S. degree in biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania.
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