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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles City Council today called on the top maritime importers in Los Angeles to commit to making all port calls to the San Pedro Port Complex via zero-emission ships by 2030.
The council voted 14-0 to approve a resolution introduced by Councilwoman Nithya Raman that officially states the city's support for legislation or administrative action to rapidly decarbonize the maritime shipping industry and create zero-emission shipping corridors along the California coast, the U.S. West Coast and across the trans-Pacific trade route.
It also stated the city's call for top maritime importers to adopt existing emissions-reducing technologies and commit to making all port calls to the San Pedro Port Complex on 100% zero-emissions ships by 2030.
Raman said before the vote Tuesday that the shipping industry ``often goes overlooked when we talk about climate change, but it's actually one of the world's largest climate polluters, emitting a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide a year ... that's more than every coal plant in the U.S. combined.''
The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, which make up the San Pedro Port Complex, are responsible for about 40% of all imports into the United States.
Raman's resolution calls on Walmart, Ashley Furniture, Target, Dole, Home Depot, Chiquita, IKEA, Amazon, Samsung, Nike, LG, Redbull, Family Dollar, Williams-Sonoma and Lowes to immediately adopt technologies that reduce emissions, including wind-assisted propulsion and slow-steaming, and commit to using only 100% zero-emissions ships at the San Pedro Port Complex by 2030.
``With the horrific oil spill in beautiful Huntington Beach, with extreme climate impacts worsening every day around the world, as we reduce the city's emissions through our LA100 renewable energy and Climate Emergency Mobilization Office efforts, we must include every sector related to the city in our scope,'' Koretz said in a statement after the resolution was introduced on Oct. 5.
``Zero emissions shipping is essential to our success in keeping our climate safe and Los Angeles habitable for generations to come.''