Yesterday evening, the Long Beach City Council unanimously passed a Ship It Zero Resolution 6-0. Long Beach City Councilmember Cindy Allen introduced the resolution on Earth Day, calling on Long Beach’s top maritime importers to commit to making all port calls to the San Pedro Port Complex, which includes the Port of Long Beach, on 100% zero-emissions ships by 2030.

 

This resolution would unite the nation’s largest ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach – and the largest U.S. seaport complex – in making the commitment of zero-emissions ocean shipping by 2030

 

 The resolution also requires support for legislation

 

The resolution also requires support for legislation or administrative action to rapidly decarbonize the maritime shipping industry and to create zero-emission shipping corridors along the California coast, the West Coast of the United States, and across the trans-Pacific trade route.

 

The international ocean shipping industry’s pollution is on the rise and is expected to comprise 17% of global carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 without urgent action.

As home to the largest port in the nation, Los Angeles County receives 40% of all containerized cargo imports to the United States coming through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, making the surrounding communities – which are primarily working-class Black and Brown communities – particularly vulnerable to deadly pollutants

“Pandemic-era supply chain issues have left over 100 ocean cargo ships idling off the coast of the Port of Long Beach, spewing toxic pollution into Black, Brown, poor, and working-class Californians’ air for far too long,” said Dawny’allHeydari, Ship It Zero Campaign Lead, Pacific Environment. “Thank you to the Long Beach City Council for prioritizing the health and wellness of residents of Long Beach by drawing a line in the sand for big retailers like Target, Walmart, IKEA, and Amazon to clean up their dirty shipping practices. No longer shall West Long Beach be treated as the collateral damage of the American economy.”

“The recent ship backlog at the ports have undone years of air quality improvements and will impact Long Beach’s most vulnerable residents the hardest.

As a West Long Beach resident, I thank the Long Beach City Council for taking the first steps in tackling one of the largest sources of pollution in our community.”