Have you seen those full-page ads, or read the Press-Telegram story about the political heat that Long Beach Mayor Foster is taking for overseeing what The Road is dubbing a Not-Clean Trucks Plan?

This blogger acknowledges that comments here (however insightful) can't possibly substitute for the impassioned voices of some 300 environmentalists, public health advocates, angry mothers, port drivers, clergy and community activists who know best. They turned out en masse to tell Long Beach Harbor Commissioners that abandoning a critical partnership with the Port of LA and giving in to corporate pressure is no way to approach a clean-air plan. So decide for yourself after tuning in to this short highlights video.

[Full disclosure: you won't find the company suits testifying in this clip, though lobbyists for the shippers and trucking companies did weigh in on the Long Beach scheme, a concession model without an employee driver requirement. For balance, here's a quick re-cap of the industry line before you check out those who outright denounced the scheme for its shamefully weak environmental standards that maintain the status quo and reward industry polluters.]

The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association gave the Commission two thumbs up but slipped a "we might still sue you" into their comments[1], while a representative of heavyweight shippers Target, Wal-Mart, Nike, Home Depot, Lowe's, and JC Penny (members of the Coalition for Responsible Transportation) asked Long Beach to weaken incentives for clean truck purchases.[2]

OK, I admit it. I can't stop editorializing on the side of the environmentalists, who I think know a thing or two about what constitutes being green. But then again, you can see for yourself.

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[1] PMSA VP Michele Grubbs cautioned that the group hadn't had time to consider "potential legal concerns" with the Long Beach plan, but consoled harbor commissioners that this was "a move away from gridlock and litigation." (Comments begin at 00:48:00 in the archived webcast).

[2] See Vic La Rosa's Feb. 19th comments to LB Commissioners asking for "clean diesel" trucks privately purchased after 2008 to be 100% exempt from the ports clean truck tariff. (Comments begin at 00:50:00 in the archived webcast).