By Karen Robes Meeks
The Port of Seattle reiterated its commitment to the environment recently when the agency announced it was part of We Are Still In, a national multi-organizational coalition aimed at meeting greenhouse gas reduction goals outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement and declared support for the UN-driven initiative Climate Neutral Now.
The port’s goals to lower emissions reflect the Paris Agreement’s goals in reducing 2005’s emissions by half by 2030 and all or more of those emissions by 2050.
Some of the port’s initiatives to reduce carbon footprint includes:
• Raising its use of renewable natural gas, solar, and wind power and other clean energy sources;
• Requiring all cruise ships and large vessels to use electric power or low-sulfur diesel while at berth;
• Partnering with the ports of Tacoma, Wash., and Vancouver, British Columbia on the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy to improve air quality in the Salish Sea air shed;
• Working with drayage truck drivers to retire its more than 200 polluting trucks and outfit the rest with modern emissions control systems; and
• Put into action a stringent program demanding port truckers to use trucks with 2007 truck emissions technology or better.
“We are actively cutting greenhouse gas emissions from Port operations and working with our tenants to assist them in reducing their GHG emissions,” said Port Commissioner John Creighton. “Leadership to make our carbon footprint smaller is crucial to reducing the threat of global temperature rise.”
