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January 28, 2021

Barragán Reintroduces Climate Smart Ports Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 28, 2021

Barragán Reintroduces Climate Smart Ports Act to Improve Air Quality and Create Good Jobs in Port Communities Across America

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán reintroduced a bill to create the first federal program dedicated to greening our nation’s ports and reducing the toxic pollution that severely harms the health of people in port communities. The Climate Smart Ports Act would invest in zero-emissions technology and infrastructure, protect dockworkers, fight climate change, address a source of environmental injustice, and create good-paying green jobs.

“In many ways, the Port of Los Angeles is the heartbeat of my district,” said Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán. “Ports are job creators, but also major sources of air pollution with serious public health consequences, particularly for the communities of color that tend to live nearby. The people in these neighborhoods live close to working diesel trucks, ships, trains, and cargo-handling equipment spewing poisons into our air and water. And we’ve paid the price. By greening our ports, we can tackle this environmental injustice.”

The Climate Smart Ports Act would create a $1 billion-a-year zero-emissions ports infrastructure program to assist ports and port users with the following:

  • Replacing diesel-burning cargo handling equipment, port harbor craft, drayage trucks, and other equipment with zero emissions equipment and technology;
  • Funding the installation of shore power for docked ships, and electric charging stations for vehicles and cargo equipment;
  • Developing clean energy microgrids onsite at the ports to power their facilities;
  • Authorizing an additional $50 million a year for the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, specifically for reducing emissions at ports.
  • Implementing strong labor provisions to protect dockworkers from automation, require a prevailing wage for installation work generated through grants, and encourage the use of union labor and local hiring.

The full 2021 bill can be found here, and a bill summary is here.

“We are often given a false choice between a clean environment and a strong economy. With the Climate Smart Ports Act, we don’t have to choose,” Rep. Barragán said.

Barragán was joined by 25 original cosponsors of the Climate Smart Ports Act, including Congressmembers Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Alan Lowenthal (Calif.), Jamie Raskin (Md.), Ed Case (Hawaii), Adam Smith (Wash.), Yvette D. Clarke (N.Y.), Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Chellie Pingree (Maine), Alcee L. Hastings (Fla.), Suzanne Bonamci (Ore.), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Ro Khanna (Calif.), Doris Matsui (Calif.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Rick Larsen (Wash.), Tony Cárdenas (Calif.), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (Ill.), Jerry McNerney (Calif.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Mondaire Jones (N.Y.), Suzan K. DelBene (Wash.), and Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.).

A companion bill will be introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Jeff Merkley (Ore.), who sponsored the Senate version of the Climate Smart Ports Act in the 116th Congress.

The Climate Smart Ports Act passed the U.S. House during the 116th Congress as part of the Moving Forward Act (H.R.2).

The Climate Smart Ports Act is supported by the Moving Forward Network, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Earthjustice, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, Environmental Defense Fund, Food & Water Action, Greenpeace, Eastyard Communities for Environmental Justice, Friends of the Earth, Jobs to Move America CA, the American Lung Association, Indivisible San Pedro, the San Pedro & Peninsula Homeowners Coalition, Green For All, Union of Concerned Scientists, Pacific Environment, Ocean Conservancy, by Humankind, Climate Resolve, National Electrical Contractors Association, the Harbor Association of Industry and Commerce, and Mothers Out Front.

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Nanette Diaz Barragán is proud to represent California’s 44th Congressional District, which includes the communities of Carson, Compton, Florence-Firestone, Lynwood, North Long Beach, Rancho Dominguez, San Pedro, South Gate, Walnut Park, Watts, Willowbrook and Wilmington.