{"id":340208,"date":"2021-10-07T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grist.org\/?p=548618"},"modified":"2021-10-07T10:30:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T10:30:00","slug":"cargo-ship-congestion-is-bringing-more-dirty-air-to-southern-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/10\/07\/cargo-ship-congestion-is-bringing-more-dirty-air-to-southern-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Cargo-ship congestion is bringing more dirty air to Southern California"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The record backlog of cargo ships off the coast of Southern California isn\u2019t just making it harder to find furniture, children\u2019s toys, or pet food in stores across the country. It\u2019s also driving a spike in dirty exhaust that threatens the health of vulnerable communities nearby, according to California regulators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dozens of vessels are running their secondary diesel engines as they anchor or drift near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the ninth-busiest shipping complex in the world. The logjam first emerged last fall as a result of Covid-related supply chain disruptions and, now with the holiday shopping season approaching, is only getting worse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you go down to the harbor, you can see the ships going out for several miles, and you can see the emissions coming out of their smokestacks,\u201d said Taylor Thomas, co-executive director of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice<\/a>. The organization works in East Los Angeles, Southeast Los Angeles, and greater Long Beach\u2014mainly areas where Black and Hispanic populations are exposed to industrial pollution and suffer higher rates of asthma<\/a>. Thomas herself lives in West Long Beach, about a mile and a half from the port. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Not too far away, down the coast in Orange County, a massive oil spill is smothering beaches and wildlife after a crude oil pipeline leaked late last week.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experts say the traffic jam along the Southern California coast and at other major ports around the country may be more than a pandemic-era blip. U.S. retail imports and e-commerce sales are expected to soar in coming years, and emissions from vessels, heavy-duty trucks, trains, and port equipment are expected to climb in tandem\u2014so long as all those engines continue burning fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis should not necessarily be considered as a temporary issue\u201d but rather a long-term challenge, said Sam Pournazeri, who heads the mobile source analysis branch at the California Air Resources Board<\/a>, or CARB, in Sacramento. \u201cWe really need to think about cleaning up the ports and going to zero-emissions across the freight sector, wherever feasible, to avoid these kinds of air quality issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n