Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia have signed an agreement that sets ambitious goals for the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to make the transition to zero emissions in their Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP).
Specifically, the mayors affirmed that the CAAP will include new investments in clean technology, expanding at-berth emission reductions, and launching a zero-emissions drayage truck pilot program in the next few years.
“Our ports are the engines that power our economy — they must also be the forces that drive our region toward a greener, more sustainable future,” says Garcetti. “I am proud to stand with my fellow Climate Mayor Robert Garcia today as we renew our commitment to cleaning our air and moving boldly toward our goal of zero-emissions goods movement at the ports.”
“With the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach ranked as the nation’s two largest ports, it is crucial to double down on our commitment to combating climate change by achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and by committing to zero-emissions goals for the Clean Air Action Plan,” says Garcia. “The success of our ports has proven that you don’t have to choose between the environment and the economy. I look forward to working with Mayor Eric Garcetti and making our cities models for climate action.”
The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will release a detailed timeline and process for the CAAP within 15 days and fully complete the update by November.
Notably, Garcetti and Garcia also launched the Green Ports Collaborative, a new initiative led by the Climate Mayors. The program will bring cities and ports together – first along the West Coast and then across America – to create shared environmental standards, demonstrate future demand for zero-emissions equipment and trucks, work with manufacturers to produce the vehicles and technologies needed, and take other collaborative action to green ports across the country.
Nearly 40% of the container cargo that comes to the U.S. moves through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The ports generate $398 billion of economic activity every year, and they support one out of every nine jobs in the region. According to the mayors, both cities have demonstrated a firm commitment to making their ports more sustainable, and since 2006, the CAAP has led to dramatic emissions reductions — even as trade volume has increased 7%.
The mayors’ declaration also puts in place a CAAP Implementation Stakeholder Advisory Group, which will bring together key stakeholders – including government, maritime industry, utility and community leaders – to oversee the implementation of the 2017 update. The Stakeholder Advisory Group is modeled, in part, on the Port of Los Angeles’ Sustainable Freight Advisory Committee.
This declaration is just one of the steps that the mayors are taking to create a more sustainable future for their cities.
In Los Angeles, Garcetti developed the Sustainable City pLAn, a comprehensive road map that lays out measurable long-term goals for efforts such as creating green jobs, expanding the use of electric vehicles, and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions across the city.
In Long Beach, Garcia is leading the city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, which will create a city-wide inventory of greenhouse gases and set targets for reduction to take a scientific approach to improving the environment while continuing to reduce emissions by expanding solar energy on city facilities and rethinking mobility to lessen its impact on area residents.
Lastly, both Garcetti and Garcia are Climate Mayors — a group Garcetti co-founded in 2014 to organize mayors across the U.S. who are committed to fighting climate change in their cities. The group now includes 292 mayors who each committed to adopting the Paris Agreement goals in their cities. Representing 60 million Americans, the Climate Mayors has quadrupled in size since the president announced the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement earlier this month.
