Clean Truck Program Blowing Smoke?

Last week, Mayor Villaraigosa attended the world climate conference to tout his Clean Trucks Program, which he claims has reduced pollution at the port of Los Angeles by 70%; the plan bans pre-1989 trucks and offered incentives for truckers to buy cleaner rigs. The Neon Tommy blog looks into the true effectiveness of the program by questioning City Hall's method for calculating air pollution, and also discovering that some truckers pick up cargo at the port with clean trucks only to transfer their cargo to dirty trucks once they're outside the port's jurisdiction. "What's the difference if you're just going to have a clean truck drive 20 or 40 feet away from the port, and then have a dirty truck pick up the cargo and drive it all over the state?" Frank Montano, a trucking company manager, said to the blog. Diesel-spewing trucks wreak havoc on the air of communities, and if they remain active on the 710, areas like Wilmington, Carson, Compton, Huntington Park and Commerce continue to be battered by contaminants; Neon Tommy refers to the mini-region as "Cancer Alley." Stephen Cheung, port liaison for the Mayor's office, says, "We are definitely very concerned that this is indeed happening because it's going to be contrary to what we believe we want to achieve." Photo via Treehugger
· End-Run Around Clean Air Program [Neon Tommy]