Mayors Commit Southern California Ports to Completing Clean Air Action Plan

Mayor Eric Garcetti and Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia are strengthening their pledge to make the twin ports of the San Pedro Bay global models for cleaner air, sustainability and innovation. They also reaffirmed their commitment to adopting the Paris Climate Agreement goals in their cities, and highlighted the two ports’ critical role in achieving them.

The two mayors signed a joint declaration 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). The mayors also 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,” said Mayor 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.”

Mayors 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 percent 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. Both cities have demonstrated a firm commitment to making their ports more sustainable, and since 2006, the Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP) has led to dramatic emissions reductions — even as trade volume has increased 7 percent.