Should America's ports be required to allow any trucking company that shows up at their gates entrance inside - no matter what? The American Trucking Association seems to think so. They may have spun their opposition to the San Pedro Ports' Clean Truck Programs as limited to responsible employer provisions, but it turns out the ATA appears to reject the Ports playing any role in restricting access to their property.

In fact, it now looks likely that both the Ports of LA and Long Beach will get sued despite the differences in their emissions-reduction plans. The American Shipper reported that the ATA had been meeting with Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster in an attempt to get the LB Port to jettison their watered-down Clean Trucks Program. But Mayor Foster rightfully rejected their pitch because it couldn't even pass the laugh test. Becki Ames, Mayor Foster's chief of staff, reportedly said that the city is willing to listen to any reasonable industry proposals to improve the trucking plan, but the ATA proposals did not rise to this level.

Now the nation's largest trucking lobby is resorting to their all-too familiar "see you in court" harassment in a last-ditch effort to prevent America's ports from setting any enforceable standards related to environment, safety, and security on an industry that contributes to public health impacts that were just tripled by the California Air Resources Board (more on these deadly numbers soon). In a recent letter to Foster, the ATA's Curtis Whalen, who has been the schoolyard-bully through the entire process, threatens once again with "I will of necessity shift ATA-IMCC focus to the now inevitable litigation phase of the process."

Whalen's constant threats of a lawsuit against any government body pursuing noble and important policy goals, like saving thousands of lives from dirty diesel pollution, makes The Road reiterate its concerns over the ATA's claims of ever being for clean air in the first place.