"We don't take the fear of litigation as a reason not to do the right thing."

Just shy of a year after Dr. Geraldine Knatz declared it to Journal of Commerce, the Port she directs is ready to live up to those words. The right thing in this case was to enact a sustainable port trucking model to hold this highly-polluting industry accountable for its impact on public health. But will the same highly-litigious industry delay implementation altogether, by merely taking the port to court for having the chutzpah to - get this - clean the air once and for all?

Highly unlikely. Look at the evidence through a judge's eye: Port truck emissions kill two people each and every week in the Southern California Air Basin. Childhood asthma rates are more than double the national average in the harbor area. The intense pollution generated by the trucking industry has blocked expansion and compromised efficiency, a critical issue for the port's ability to meet the rising tide of imports. So saving lives, a prerequisite to grow operations, is an awfully compelling rationale to block an injunction, should the industry obstructionists make good on threats to legally oppose all port programs that force them to either a) clean up the toxic mess they've made and b) adhere to any new low-emission truck regulations.

That's why Thomas Russell, general counsel to the Port of LA, simply advised harbor commissioners before their unanimous action last Thursday: "We have concluded (the Clean Trucks Program is) legally defensible."

Sadly, The Road is confident the for-profit polluters won't balk at the billable hours charged by the hired guns at each attempt to skirt the cost of environmental obligations. After all, they wasted no time taking legal action against the Port of Long Beach, which rejected the LA Ports' sustainable employee model. The most minimal new requirements accompanying a weak concession scheme which forces impoverished drivers to pay for cleaner commerce won't appease this industry either. (We told you so.)

The Road also concurs with the Port of LA that the public entity is exerting its proper authority as a landlord to ensure livable, sustainable communities to pave the way for green growth. Check back soon, we'll explore in fuller detail why.