Terrance L. Bankston
It’s no secret that ports are hotspots for local emissions and air pollution. For years, resources to address these issues have been insufficient or unfocused. Ports in Newark, Elizabeth and South Jersey struggle to address a legacy of environmental injustices while transitioning to a clean energy economy. Luckily, the Inflation Reduction Act provides an opportunity to increase protections for Environmental Justice communities with the recently launched $3 billion Clean Ports Program.
The Port of New York and New Jersey, the second busiest port in the nation, has found itself at a crossroads between crisis and opportunity. Unfortunately, the port’s leadership or approachto community engagement seeminglylacked ambition. For example, previous roadmaps that outline actions to achieve zero-emission port operations were not properly vetted by the communities most impacted. While the port has made well-intended attempts to engage the local communities through actions like port listening sessions, this has become a stale approach to community engagement and advancing environmental justice.
The necessity for community engagement is why Friends of Earth applauds the efforts of groups like the South Ward Environmental Alliance and their Ports Advisory Council. They represent a transformative approach to connecting communities to port operations. Regina Townes, the group’s ports organizer, has argued that real solutions fully include port communities, building transformative partnerships and addressing social inequities. South Ward Environmental Alliance’s Port Advisory Council works with my organization, Friends of the Earth, and stakeholders from New Jersey and New York to advocate for the EPA’s Clean Port funding, and to allocate that funding for the electrification of equipment at the port, zero emissions zones in the community and reducing pollution from the ships to mitigate public health risks. Additionally, there are several additional opportunities available to curb emissions from diesel-powered vehicles by incentivizing fleet and independent truck owners to purchase new, cleaner vehicles and engines while removing the old polluting engines.
Additionally, Altorice Frazier, the executive director for Parents Engaging Parents, has made it clear that environmental justice challenges at the New York and New Jersey ports are critical for the safety of families in the region. Marine vessels are significant emitters of cancer-causing pollutants, and increased shipping activity has outpaced regulatory gains. Luckily, we now have programs that offer unprecedented opportunities to fund zero-emission equipment and develop climate action plans.
The passage of the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act creates unique opportunities for billions of dollars in federal funding to support these emission reduction and public health efforts. This issue hasn’t been prioritized historically, so many U.S. ports are unfamiliar with applying to large federal programs for green port infrastructure. Many ports also don’t have an environmentally progressive culture, as they typically lack sustainability directors, emissions inventories, decarbonization goals or emission-reducing implementation plans.
Nevertheless, there’s good news: communities and their port authorities have action they can take today. As a result of President Joe Biden’s legislation, there are programs making grants available right now to begin the clean energy transition at our ports, including the Port Infrastructure and Development Programand the aptly-named Reduction of Truck Emissions at Ports Program— all in addition to the Clean Ports Program. These programs build on the EPA’s Ports Initiative, which helps ports nationwide address public health and environmental impacts on surrounding communities.
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Activists like Kim Gaddy, the founder of the South Ward Environmental Alliance, also want the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to align funding decisions with the Justice 40 Initiative, directing resources to environmental justice communities and ensuring that at least 40% of federal investment benefits flow to disadvantaged communities. These decision-makers could invest in green job training programs and job opportunities for residents in underserved neighborhoods. In addition to addressing the remediation of legacy pollution, their funding choices could help clean up contaminated sites in areas disproportionately affected by pollution.
It’s been reportedthat Biden has struggled with distributing environmental program funding from the IRA and IIJA. Electrifying ports and assisting port communities is an easy path forward. Furthermore, it’s up to the region’s Port Authority to apply for this funding and work with groups like the South Ward Environmental Alliance, Pacific Environment, and Parents Engaging Parents to make the transition to a clean energy economy. Our environmental justice communities, climate and the planet can’t wait.
Terrance L. Bankston is the Senior Ports and Freights Campaigner at Friends of the Earth (FoE), where he is responsible for directing the organizing, coordination, and advocacy efforts from Seattle to South Carolina to New York/New Jersey and the Gulf Coast, aiming to reduce air pollution from port and freight activity.
