Don't Derail Our Leadership In Global Trade
May 7, 2013
by Gary Toebben
Last Thursday, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce kicked off its 87th annual observance of World Trade Week with nearly 600 people in attendance. The Los Angeles International Airport and the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles represent America's trade gateway, creating billions in state and local taxes and hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Ports and airports across the nation and the world are upgrading their operations with the goal of developing a competitive edge over our ports and airports. We must fight back with continuous investment and innovation.
Tomorrow, the Los Angeles City Council will consider one such investment that is critical to sustaining international trade as the cornerstone of our economy, while also promoting our leadership in environmental stewardship. That project is BNSF Railway Company’s Southern California International Gateway (SCIG).
SCIG will eliminate millions of truck trips from the 710 Freeway each year and reduce health risks in surrounding communities. It will be the greenest intermodal yard in the United States. BNSF will spend $100 million to provide low-emission electric cranes and switching locomotives, and progressively cleaner trucks on designated routes, including 90 percent liquefied natural gas or equivalent emissions by 2026. BNSF will invest $3 million in a zero emissions container movement system and build a 12-foot-high sound wall on the eastern side of the Terminal Island Freeway.
In March, after nearly eight years of environmental review, the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners unanimously certified the SCIG Environmental Impact Report and recommended approval to the L.A. City Council. The Harbor Commissioners recognized that the technological improvements to the new yard and the extensive mitigation in the community would yield a big win for efficiency, the environment and the economy.
We thank Councilmember Joe Buscaino for his strong leadership in ensuring that SCIG is the best possible project for his constituents and the City of Los Angeles. BNSF has spent eight years talking with and listening to its future neighbors and port employees who will benefit from this major investment. It is an essential project and now is the time to move forward. Join us in urging the City Council to support SCIG for a cleaner environment and more jobs.
And that's The Business Perspective.
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