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Welcome to the August 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

Ship Pollution: From Air to Ocean

The Science on Pollution Scrubbers and Why EPA Should Ban Scrubber Discharge

Pacific Environment recently released a policy paper revealing a huge body of scientific work and studies that show that Exhaust Gas Control Systems (ECGS) — otherwise known as scrubbers — are detrimental to the marine environment, wildlife and people’s health.

Scrubbers remove pollutants from the exhaust gasses produced by combustion engines – particularly those found in ships – out of the air and dump them into the water.

Recent scientific studies show that scrubber discharge is extremely toxic to marine life even at very low concentrations, and scrubber discharge may have a serious impact on the populations of key species of marine food webs, including microscopic plankton and copepods, major food sources for the endangered killer whale. Pacific Environment has compiled 26 recent studies showing the breadth and depth of new and substantial data. Read more.

Plastics

The cure for disposable “plastic crap” is here — and it’s simple

How WIRED’s recent piece on the solution to plastic pollution circumvents the emerging science on plastic and public health

WIRED’s article, “The Cure for Disposable Plastic Crap Is Here—and It’s Loony,” highlights the urgent and daunting task of tackling plastic pollution, but completely misses the point that the solution to the plastic problem is actually simpler than you would think: We need to stop producing so much of the stuff. 

The science is clear that we can’t begin to address the plastic crisis without first drastically reducing the amount of plastic that gets produced in the first place — so much of which is, indeed, “crap” we don’t need. This is critical for the climate (since 99% of plastic is made from fossil fuels) but cutting production is equally important for our health. Because plastic truly is everywhere, including but not limited to breast milk, the brain and testicles — and with devastating health impacts. Read more.

Climate

Environmental groups shut down street in front of Amazon HQ during Prime Day protest

Amazon needs to Ship It Zero!

As Amazon celebrated its annual Prime Day sales event on July 16, protestors gathered outside its Seattle headquarters to send a message to Amazon executives that the company is going the wrong way on harmful climate emissions.

Led by environmental advocacy groups including Pacific Environment’s Ship It Zero coalition and our partners at Stand.earth, climate and community advocates called on the company to announce a commitment to transition its maritime and land-based shipping and logistics to zero-emission alternatives, and to release a science-based roadmap toward implementation that aligns with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Read more.

Take Action

Champion the Beyond Methane Pledge!

Join Pacific Environment and the Say No to LNG coalition, an international shipping coalition, in championing the “Beyond Methane Pledge.” The pledge calls on industry leaders —including ship owners, cargo owners, ports, cities, policymakers, energy producers, suppliers/utilities, transporters, and financial institutions — to end liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other methane-based fuels. LNG and other methane-based fuels such as bio-methane and e-methane are primarily composed of methane — an extremely powerful greenhouse gas with 80 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide in the short-term. Methane leaks throughout supply chains and poses significant risks to the climate, environment, and public health. Take action now!

Ports for People

Advocating for cleaner ports and rail yards

Petition delivered to Long Beach, CA Mayor supporting Indirect Point Source rule

This month, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) Headquarters was packed with about 100 clean air advocates in attendance, who erupted in cheers as the South Coast AQMD’s governing board voted unanimously to adopt the Railyard Indirect Source Rule (ISR). A big win for clean air, the facility-based measure aims to reduce harmful pollution from trains, trucks, cargo-handling equipment and transport refrigeration units that service new and existing railyards in Southern California. 

The ISR, in conjunction with other state regulations, is projected to reduce NOx emissions by over 9 tons per day between 2025 and 2050 and prevent around 275 premature deaths annually. However, there is still room for future improvements to the new Railyard ISR such as stricter emission reduction targets and air quality monitoring with public data reporting, further benefiting the health and safety of nearby communities.

For decades, fossil-fueled locomotives, trucks and ships have traversed our communities, contributing to the South Coast air basin being in extreme nonattainment (areas in the country where air pollution levels persistently exceed federal ambient air quality standards) for safe air quality levels set by the federal government. The region — including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties — has some of the nation’s worst smog, largely driven by emissions tied to railyards and the transportation sector at-large.

Voting on rules designed to curb transport pollution doesn’t end here: SCAQMD is currently scheduled to vote on the Ports ISR early next year, which also has the potential to drastically impact air quality in the area.