Thanks to the American Trucking Association – the nation’s largest trucking lobby group - supporters of the lifesaving Clean Trucks Program woke up today to a new stench in the air. Environmentalists, community members and port drivers expressed outrage at the Virginia-based lobby group’s efforts to kill a pair of critical-clean air programs in the San Pedro Bay after a Court of Appeals panel sent a favorable ruling back to the U.S. District Court. The panel suggested that the District Court was wrong when it denied the American Trucking Association’s request for an injunction that could shut down the Ports’ Clean Trucks Programs.

With over 3,700 premature deaths attributed annually to goods movement the public health threat is real. “While the hired guns high-five one another, my kids gasp for air,” said Alicia Carrera, a Long Beach mother of three asthmatic children. “This is more dirty tricks from a shameless industry that has bullied its way around our backyard for too long.”

Councilmember Janice Hahn, whose district covers port adjacent communities, expressed her concern: "We have been working for years to try to mitigate the critical health and safety issues that Port operations present. The Clean Trucks Program effectively addresses these air quality and public safety issues. Hopefully, Judge Snyder's ultimate ruling will allow us to continue to uphold these new and improved standards. So far, we can account for cleaner air, a more reliable work force, and improved public safety."

Through a statement by the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, public health advocates, environmentalists, mothers of children with asthma and truck drivers vowed to fight at all costs to protect LA green-growth model for nation’s ports. Read More