Welcome to the June 2024 edition of Pacific Environment’s monthly e-newsletter! This is an opportunity to highlight some of our work and share our victories for communities, climate and wildlife.

Arctic, Marine & Climate

LinkedIn Live “Tide Talk”

Did you miss our LinkedIn Live? We (“tide”) talked everything from the plastic threat to sea life to fossil-fueled shipping, and you can recap the discussion here!  

June is World Ocean Month, a time to celebrate our world’s oceans and further our commitment to protect these waters and all the life they sustain. This week, Pacific Environment’s conservation experts discussed our efforts to reduce climate pollution, create and expand vital Marine Protected Areas and protect the fragile ecosystems of the Arctic.

For more than 30 years, Pacific Environment has partnered with communities across the Pacific Rim to address some of the biggest threats to marine life and coastal neighborhoods. This month, we’re celebrating our oceans and highlighting our work to ensure healthy ecosystems around the Pacific Rim for the benefit of people and our planet.

Shipping

California Air Resources Board announces that it is exploring oceangoing vessel regulations

California Air Resources Board spokeswoman Lynda Lambert told TradeWinds that the agency is exploring regulatory and voluntary measures to reduce emissions by oceangoing vessels in transit to California ports. And that CARB is in the early stages of its work, but typically rulemaking takes three to five years.

This is significant news since it is the first time that CARB has said publicly that it will be addressing emissions in oceangoing ships in transit. Teresa Bui, Policy Director for Pacific Environment, told TradeWinds, “We need everyone to move as fast as possible … and we think sub-national [governments] and ports all have a role to play in accelerating shipping decarbonisation. So we’re trying to get all entities, all stakeholders, to move as fast as possible.”

Pacific Environment looks forward to partnering with CARB and advocating for oceangoing vessels to be zero emissions by 2040 in California’s ports. 

The global shipping industry accounts for 3% of global climate emissions, more than global air travel. If shipping were a country, it would be the world’s sixth largest climate polluter. Globally, shipping emission contributes to 265,000 premature deaths and 6.4 million cases of childhood asthma annually. 

Arctic

Gas & oil pipeline in Alaska must be reexamined

Pacific Environment, along with several other environmental groups, filed a legal petition asking the U.S. Department of the Interior for a new analysis of the climate damage and other harms related to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. The petition also calls for a plan to phase down the pipeline’s operations.

“To build a healthy economy that doesn’t further warm the planet, Alaska must transition beyond fossil fuels,” said Kay Brown, Arctic Policy Director at Pacific Environment. “Alaska is warming faster than any other state and nearly four times faster than the global average. As the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System approaches the end of its life, climate change is impacting Alaska and the Arctic region significantly. It’s time for the Department of the Interior to review this nearly 50-year-old aging infrastructure and put a plan in place to decommission it. Alaska can have a thriving economy based on its abundant renewable energy as the world transitions away from fossil fuels.”

Plastics

U.S. taking stronger stance on plastics?

In meetings following President Biden’s recent trip to France to honor the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, the White House published the French-American Roadmap which, among many other international issues, indicates that the U.S. is taking a (slightly) stronger stance on plastics. While we applaud the Biden administration for taking a full life cycle approach with an emphasis on curbing production and calling for an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty, we continue to call for more global leadership from the United States on plastics.

According to the statement, “The (French and American) Presidents are committed to taking ambitious actions throughout the full life cycle of plastics to end plastic pollution and call upon the global community to do the same, with the aspiration to reduce the global production and consumption of primary plastic polymers.”

Pacific Environment and its partners want to see this translated into strong leadership by the U.S. delegation at the final round of Global Plastics Treaty negotiations taking place in November. Click here to learn more about our work reducing plastic pollution and how you can help.

Shipping

Port of Seattle takes action on cruise pollution

The Port of Seattle became the first port in the nation to independently require that 100% of all cruise vessels homeported in Seattle be shore power capable and utilize shore power. The order passed by the Port of Seattle Commission on June 11 takes effect in the 2027 cruise season, three years before the Port’s previous goal of 2030 of universal shorepower use.   

“We applaud the Port of Seattle’s leadership to move cruise vessels off of dirty fossil fuels,” said Jayne Stevenson, Climate Policy Associate for Pacific Environment. “Ocean going vessels, including cruise ships, are a top maritime polluter in the Salish Sea area. We urge the state of Washington to implement a statewide shore power policy to eliminate air and water pollution from all ocean going vessels at the ports and protect the health and well-being of port communities.”

Support our work

Learn more about Pacific Environment’s Business Sponsorship Program

Become a Business Sponsor and contribute to a sustainable future while elevating your brand and making a tangible difference. Align your brand with Pacific Environment and help us support local partners and community leaders across the Pacific Rim to clean up climate and plastic pollution and protect our oceans.

For more information check out our website or email us at [email protected]!

Come work with us! Now hiring: Senior Director of Advancement

We are excited to announce that we are looking for a Senior Director of Advancement. Please share with your networks widely. You can find the full description on our website here.