The twin ports of LA and Long Beach are similar in many ways: similar businesses, serving similar customers with similar services, with the same ILWU workforce (plus often misclassified truck drivers) with a shared aspiration to be seen as America’s leading green port.
Yet, the pictures painted by the two ports’ executive directors at their respective “State of the Port” were strikingly different, capped off with the news that the Port of Long Beach will create an off-shore wind turbine assembly facility as part of a new initiative to achieve carbon neutrality “at the port and beyond.” The proposed 400 acre facility (the largest in the U.S.) for the assembly of offshore wind turbines taller than the Eiffel Tower “holds the key to meeting California’s goal of producing 25 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2045,” according to an introductory video. This represents a major breakthrough, given previous concerns about port electrification depending on fossil fuel power generation.
Andrea Hricko, retired professor from USC, said “I see the two ports’ addresses as a way to gauge commitment to cleaning up the air pollution from vessels and equipment at the twin ports.” She added: “Mario Cordero, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, mentioned environmental concerns as a major port focus in the very first minute of his address, which the press cited: ‘Long Beach port director stresses environmental strides in 2022 review’— Press Telegram.”
Cordero said the theme of his speech would be “our environmental social responsibility, our sustainable development,” and he went on to say, “I would like to thank our passionate environmental justice groups for their advocacy on climate change.”
“In contrast,” Hricko noted that “Gene Seroka’s focus was on the ups and downs of the Port of LA’s cargo volumes — which he spoke about for a full nine minutes before he first mentioned a need for ‘decarbonization of the maritime industry’ and ‘reducing emissions’ in his address.”
“What a stark contrast in statements,” homeowner activist Janet Gunter noted.
“Director Cordero offered a passionate and comprehensive pledge on behalf of the POLB to reduce deadly port emissions as a first priority. He also described POLB’s fierce dedication to the promotion of zero-emissions technology sooner rather than later,” Gunter said. “Meanwhile, Seroka focused his energy on remaining competitive and improving the supply chain while periodically mentioning improving ‘sustainability’ without discussing the chronic issue of the port’s deadly air emissions upon the local community. Cordero made a very poignant statement in his address stating the following: ‘While other ports offer incentives for cargo, we offer customers incentives for environmental performance.’”
Indeed, Cordero said, “Last year, during the months we were experiencing record shipment, I said cargo volume is not the sole metric of success for the Port of Long Beach. Rather, how we serve our customers, contribute to our local community, mitigate the impacts to our neighborhoods, and serve our labor force, these are important metrics for the Port of Long Beach. And, ladies and gentlemen, given our success and leadership in these areas, the Port of Long Beach is number one.”
In part, the differences reflected the two men’s backgrounds — but also the two cities whose ports they lead. Seroka has headed POLA since 2014, following a 26-year career at American Presidents Line, while Cordero’s experience is much more diverse — from his three decades as a lawyer specializing in workers’ compensation cases, to his long tenure on POLB’s board, and the board of the Federal Maritime Commission, which he chaired for four years, where he received multiple awards for assisting industry stakeholders to accomplish their goals.
While the two ports are roughly equal in size, Los Angeles has almost nine times the population of Long Beach, and POLA is far from LA City Hall, as well as most of the city’s commercial and population centers.
But both men are ultimately responsible to newly-elected mayors: Karen Bass, LA’s first Black female mayor, and Rex Richardson, Long Beach’s first Black mayor. Their roles will be significant, said Joe Lyou, president and CEO of the Coalition for Clean Air.
“I expect Mayor Bass to take her zero emission port pledge seriously,” Lyou said. “The Los Angeles port needs to shift from prioritizing profits to prioritizing public health, which means eliminating pollution from ships, terminal equipment, trucks and trains. They have a long way to go.”
CCA’s deputy policy director, Christopher Chavez, was the sustainability co-lead for Richardson’s transition team. He pointed to three things Richardson proposed in his State of the City address:
- Doubling the Clean Truck Rate from $10 to $20 per 20-foot equivalent container unit
- Installing 100 truck chargers on port property
- Creating a local fund to help replace dirty trucks
As it stands, POLB seems to be moving much faster in making use of the fees generated so far. “We started our first grant program last September to help subsidize the purchase of ZE trucks,” Seroka said. “So far we’ve had four applicants, that’s four trucks. Why the low number? Because these trucks are not only costly, they’re not commercially available yet,” he said (though that’s not strictly true). “So last month we issued a separate grant to get more pre-production ZE big rigs on the street. Thanks to that funding a total of six million dollars was awarded to two local trucking companies who will use the funds to purchase a total of 22 pre-production battery electric trucks.”
But POLB is moving much faster by focusing on infrastructure, while CARB provides vehicle funding. “In September we held a groundbreaking for 30 charging units that would be built at the 4 Gen trucking yard by Electrify America for the 61 zero-emission battery electric trucks that 4 Gen announced it was purchasing,” Cordero said.
“God willing, our new mayor will see the disparity going on between these two ports and recognize the ingrained and unjust policies embraced by the Port of LA,” Gunter said. “We can only hope that Mayor Bass will make changes that restore the priority of environmental protections to its proper first place position.”