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News Links Archive | |||
Archived news stories on trade, environmental health, ports and goods movement March 2009 Archive |
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| Added March 16, 2009: | ||||
| Smoggy Skies May Cause Respiratory Death People living in the smoggiest cities are 30 percent more likely to die from respiratory diseases, including pneumonia, than those living in the least smoggy areas, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The nationwide study of 450,000 adults is the first to document the long-term impact of ozone on human health. National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101694787 | ||||
| Study links smog exposure to premature death Long-term exposure to concentrated smog significantly raises the risk of dying from lung disease, a new study shows. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine , found that the risk of dying from respiratory disease is more than three times higher in metropolitan areas with the most concentrated ozone -- a precursor of smog -- than in those with the lowest ozone concentrations. The New York Times, New York, NY. http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/03/12/12greenwire-study-links-smog-exposure-to-premature-death-10098.html | ||||
| Pollution factors don't support Chamber's enthusiasm for port Upton Sinclair famously said, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." So it appears to be with the Charleston Chamber of Commerce and the proposed new port terminal. The Chamber's Thom Penney and Wilbur Johnson, in their recent Post and Courier column, applaud this project as if it were the second coming for our region. Yet their commentary is riddled with factual inaccuracies and omissions which, if corrected, paint a very different and troubling picture. The Post and Courier, Charleston, S. Carolina. http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jun/11/pollution_factors_dont_support_chambers_44076/?print | ||||
| Port traffic plunges February's numbers from the Port of Los Angeles were much worse than the preliminary estimates. Inbound traffic tumbled 35.3 percent from a year earlier, which is the worst monthly drop since the early 80s, while outbound traffic (representing a much smaller share of the pie) fell 27.6 percent. All told, traffic last month was down 32.7 percent. (Port of Long Beach numbers aren't in yet.) L.A. and Long Beach account for 40 percent of all container traffic coming into the U.S., so it's a pretty good indication of how many wide-screen TVs and automobiles are expected to be sold in the coming months. LA Biz Observed, Los Angeles, CA. http://www.laobserved.com/biz/2009/03/port_traffic_plunges.php | ||||
| Added March 11, 2009: | ||||
| Dispatches: Smoke on the Water Residents of Red Hook, Brooklyn, who worry about car exhaust have long looked in consternation to the east, to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, or, more recently, to the south, where an Ikea store opened last year amid fears about the traffic it would draw. But when Adam Armstrong of Pioneer Street thinks of exhaust, he thinks of the westward view from his backyard, toward the water. The New York Times, New York, NY. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/nyregion/thecity/08disp1.html?_r=1 | ||||
| Economy stalls $735M Logistic Park Kansas City in Gardner The nation's faltering economic engine has left the $735 million Logistic Park Kansas City in Gardner stopped in its tracks. The 1,000-acre industrial park is anchored by a BNSF Railway intermodal freight hub, which no longer is targeted for completion by the fourth quarter of next year. “The decision was just made by senior management in Fort Worth,” BNSF spokesman Steve Forsberg said Friday, “and the decision is that the construction schedule will be open-ended and will vary with what we see happening with the economy.” Kansas City Business Journal, Kansas City, MO. http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2009/02/09/daily53.html | ||||
| Long line of train cars finds home in Union, Mo. As far down the railroad line as Robert Persefield can see, empty coal hoppers are parked on the track. Some have been there for months. The train cars are just a few yards behind the family home, on Timber Drive in the northwest part of town. The ribbon of silver and yellow runs for about three miles. "We don't like it at all," Persefield, 28, said of their backyard view of tall, cold steel. STL Today, St. Louis, MO. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/799AC85B75FECCEC86257570000BDB28?OpenDocument | ||||
| Construction Underway on Alabama State Port Authority's Intermodal Container Transfer Facility The Alabama State Port Authority (ASPA) is moving forward on construction of the intermodal container transfer facility (ICTF), the second element of the port's Choctaw Point project. “The intermodal container transfer facility will add much-needed infrastructure to reduce the number of trucks on our highways eliminating both congestion and emissions. We are actively putting together financing plans for both the transfer facility and the logistics park,” said Jimmy Lyons, Director and CEO of the Alabama State Port Authority. He added that all permits are in place and much of the engineering, approximately 95%, is complete on the ICTF. US Custom House Guide. http://blogs.customhouseguide.com/news/?p=2500 | ||||
| BNSF presents plan for reducing rail yard pollution As part of a statewide push to reduce pollution from railyards, BNSF Railway has put together a preliminary plan to cut in half the diesel emissions from its Barstow railyard, reducing health risks to nearby residents. The Barstow yard was one of 18 California railyards studied by the state Air Resources Board to determine potential health risks — including increased risk of cancer — to local residents due to diesel emissions. As a second step in the process, the air board is now working with the rail companies to develop plans for reducing the risks. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. http://www.ble.org/pr/news/pf_headline.asp?id=25342 | ||||
| New TraPac container terminal opens in Jacksonville Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; President: Akimitsu Ashida) opened its own terminal in the U.S. port of Jacksonville, Florida. The first ship (serving the ESX-China/North America East Coast route) berthed on the afternoon of January 12th and the cargo operation was done safely. MOL's wholly owned subsidiary TraPac, Inc. (headquarters: Los Angeles) operates the terminal. Utilizing terminal operation know-how accumulated in the ports of Los Angeles and Oakland, the company will offer highly efficient, cost competitive services. Port Technology International. http://www.porttechnology.org/index.php?id=4173 | ||||
| Added March 4, 2009: | ||||
| Ports' leaders see slow recovery. Leaders of Southern California's shipping industry gathered Friday against a bleak economic backdrop of sinking profits, sliding trade volumes and stagnant job growth to discuss the future of international trade in the region. And judging by their comments, the outlook isn't particularly rosy - at least in the near-term. Daily Breeze, Long Beach, California. http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_11805915 | ||||
| Port cargo levels are sinking fast The international trade business is foundering faster than ever seen before, with some U.S. seaports watching cargo traffic fall by more than a third. It's gotten so bad that Los Angeles and Long Beach are slashing cargo rates to keep old customers and lure new business. Oakland's port has laid off 12% of its staff and canceled free tours for the public. The number of ships idled around the world is approaching three times the number that were out of work during the last big ocean trade collapse, in 2002. LA Times, Los Angeles, California. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tradecrash2-2009mar02,0,807159.story | ||||
| Commercial Ships Spew Half As Much Particulate Pollution As World's Cars Commercial ships emit almost half as much particulate pollutants into the air globally as the total amount released by the world's cars, according to a new study led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Colorado at Boulder. The study is the first to provide a global estimate of maritime shipping's total contribution to air particle pollution based on direct emission measurements. Science Daily, Rockville, Maryland. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090226131707.htm | ||||
| Platform for the National Transportation Program Authorization(PDF). Transportation for America has been formed by a broad coalition of housing, environmental, public health, urban planning, transportation, real estate, business, and other organizations. We're all seeking to align our national, state, and local transportation policies with an array of issues like economic opportunity, climate stability, energy security, health, housing, and community development. Our coalition continues to grow. Transportation for America. http://www.streetsblog.org/wp-content/pdf/T4_platform.pdf | ||||
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