Geraldine Knatz, the Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, spoke to South Bay residents in an op-ed entitled "Port Trucking System Needs an Overhaul" in Sunday's Daily Breeze about LA's plan to say goodbye to truck pollution (and a page right out of history) - and why harbor officials will enact the comprehensive, sustainable business model preferred by leading economists , (and modernity itself):

While protecting public health for the long run is priority one, three key principles mandate our Clean Truck Program's aggressive approach: efficiency, sustainability and security...

Change is never easy, and the Clean Truck Program assures that our chronically ill drayage system will change. Sure, we could treat the symptoms instead of curing the disease. But the security of the people of Los Angeles, the health of our communities and the safety of the motorists who drive our freeways are reason enough to attempt a quantum leap toward transforming our trucking system.

We have an opportunity to leave the "caveman economics" of our existing port trucking system behind.

Let The Road be the first to say, yeah, yabba-dabba do it. It's the 21st century global economy after all. Dr. Knatz views are also shared by an overwhelming 74 percent of diesel-death zone area voters, who want trucking companies to legitimately employ their drivers and take responsibility for a new, clean-burning fleet. Read her full op-ed here.