Guest column: Port of Hueneme needs to commit to a zero emissions policy
Every new year, we have the chance to adopt better habits and improve our quality of life. This year, we’re asking the Port of Hueneme to join us in resolving to clean our air in Oxnard by committing to transition the polluting diesel trucks that run through Oxnard’s streets to 100% zero emissions by 2030.
In recent years, Oxnard led the way in the fight to replace fossil fuel power plants with clean energy, with a victory for clean air that rippled across California. But while emissions from power plants are going down, transportation emissions continue to climb, with growth this year especially driven by record traffic from container ships and heavy duty trucks at ports during the pandemic. With the growing climate crisis, we need to act courageously and adopt the strongest emission reduction policies so that our communities have a chance for a livable future.
Communities of color across California near ports, truck routes and warehouses are called “Diesel Death Zones,” because of the heavy duty trucks that fill our air with deadly diesel exhaust every day. Despite cleaner technology being adopted at California ports, the Port of Hueneme remains one of the largest sources of greenhouse emissions and toxic air contaminants in Ventura County, especially impacting densely populated, working-class immigrant neighborhoods in South Oxnard.
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessment names diesel exhaust as the No. 1 source of cancer of all toxic air contaminants. Children and adults living near truck routes who experience long-term exposure to diesel exhaust are at higher risk of asthma, respiratory diseases, heart disease and cancer. Luckily, ports like San Diego, Los Angeles and Long Beach are committing to phase out the diesel trucks that enter their gates to pick up cargo. The rapidly growing Port of Hueneme must hold accountable its customers, including multibillion-dollar corporations like GLOVIS, BMW, Chiquita and Del Monte to do the same.
Last year the Port of San Diego set a date to completely transition to zero-emissions trucks by the year 2030, leaving Hueneme the only port in Southern California without a commitment to end diesel trucking. San Diego is the Port of Hueneme’s main competitor, similar in size and also specializing in importing foreign cars and tropical fruit. If they can do it, with huge health benefits for port-impacted neighborhoods like Barrio Logan, we can too.
Technology for zero-emission transportation is growing, especially for heavy duty trucks, which offer some of the biggest opportunities to clean the air and save lives in California’s most polluted and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Like other California ports, the Port of Hueneme has taken admirable steps to adopt new cleaner technology, like shore power where many docked ships now plug into electricity instead of idling their engines. But there is still a long way to go.
Last October, Del Monte, one of the port’s biggest customers, was fined $2 million by the California Air Resource Board for violating regulations to use the shore side plug-in power. Ships idling remain the biggest source of emissions at Port of Hueneme. The Port of Hueneme Harbor Commission recently made a resolution to eventually decarbonize port operations, and community advocates look forward to engaging in its Electrification Roundtable process. But we’re troubled by the lack of milestones or measurable commitments in the resolution compared to more concrete actions like the Port of San Diego’s pledge to end diesel port trucking by 2030.
The Port is growing rapidly, deepening the harbor for larger ships and seeking hundreds of acres of land in South Oxnard for expanded storage along its truck and rail routes, like the GLOVIS 34-acre project under environmental review now. Without phasing out dirty diesel trucks, more expansion from the port means more pollution in our neighborhoods.
A diverse coalition of social, economic, and environmental justice organizations are calling on the Port of Hueneme to adopt a Clean Air Action Plan that creates a path and timeline for the port to fully transition to zero-emissions technology across all port operations by 2030, including cargo-handling equipment, heavy duty trucks, and rail, without using offsets to avoid responsibility for local pollution. This New Year, our community needs a tangible commitment for a pollution-free port before we see more plans for expansion.
Lucia Marquez is a Senior Policy Advocate for Central Coast Alliance United For A Sustainable Economy (CAUSE).
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Column: Port of Hueneme needs to commit to a zero emissions policy
