Making the Sea Green

We always hear so much about hybrid cars, solar panels, and now when we think about farms, wind comes to mind.

True--homes, cars, and factories emit much of the pollution. But there are other culprits as well. Research indicates that air travel is especially harmful to our earth’s atmosphere, making Continental’s recent biofuel test flight compelling (more on that later!). But ships use energy that’s especially dirty—the diesel by which they are often fueled belch out emissions that would make your favorite oil company CEO blush.

So what are we to do? A conference I was recently at almost left a permanent smirk on my face. I was at a panel where one person said that we need to stop importing goods—oh, and on the other hand, we should grow LA’s economy and put people to work by shipping organic products.

Okay, this is an odd argument not worth picking apart. We are no longer villagers who can grow and produce everything we need in our neighborhood. Nor should we. LA’s biggest employer, after all, is logistics—not entertainment—and international trade is the circulation system of our global economy. Trade builds economies, economies foster jobs, jobs keep us buying goods and services—the Venetians invented this, and I think they were on to something.

Yes, hybrid cars are cool and sexy—after all the American Idol Top Two got 2010 Hybrid Ford Fusions, so they must be cool. And yes, I salivate at the opportunity to get my roof solar’d up so I can become a mini-utility.

But why aren’t we focusing on creating clean fuels for the engines behind our economic growth? Clean-fuel ships would be a start. The ports of LA and Long Beach are on a start, moving towards cleaner-running trucks. But what about the ships? Maersk is starting in the right direction with their LPG and LNG fueled tankers. But with neighborhoods near ports often suffering from high pollution levels, there needs to be more focus on having tankers and ships run from renewable and cleaner sources.