The FMC made what some are calling a "colossal mistake" on Wednesday upon voting 2-1 to seek a court order to halt portions of the clean trucks program at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. NRDC and other environmental advocates are gearing up to respond with litigation against the commission for its attack to derail clean air gains in southern California. 

"Port drivers and the community have been paying the price with their lungs and livelihoods for too long. This is the Bush Administration's last-ditch effort to let the nation's largest trucking lobby off the hook for the pollution they create. Capitalized companies can afford to buy and maintain the clean trucks we need - individual workers cannot. And that's why we need the employee requirement to sustain clean up in the long run. Two commissioners in Washington, D.C. should not make a decision behind closed doors to ruin clean air for all southern Californians," said Carl Pope, executive director, Sierra Club. Read NRDC's full press release.

The response also came from within the FMC itself. Commissioner Brennan called it a colossal mistake pointing out the program's endorsement by  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Representatives Laura Richardson and Loretta Sanchez, and some 30 other members of the California delegation of the U.S. House of Representatives.  Click here to view full statement from Commissioner Brennan.