Ryan Wiggins's Page

The purpose of the Clean Trucks Program is simple, but not as simple as Mayor Foster and President Sramek would have us believe. In their Clean Air Action Plan both the Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles state that it is critical to “deal with the well-recognized problem of heavily polluting trucks driven by underpaid drivers” and directed their staffs to bring forward a plan to result in “adequately paid drivers.” A… Continue

After our recent letter writing campaign urging Governor Schwarzenegger and the California Air Resources Board to support alternative-fuels we received messages from some of our members that in some cases asked for clarification regarding which types of fuels we are advocating and in others criticized us for not promoting biodiesel.

In response to the first question, at this time our advocacy efforts focus on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and electric trucks. The bulk of our efforts to this point… Continue

Ok, so not officially but pretty close.

In a move widely condemned by public health and environmental groups across the country the Port of Long Beach emerged hand in hand with the American Trucking Association last week to announce it had settled a lawsuit challenging the legality of many of the core aspects of the Clean Trucks Program. The settlement threatens the long-term environmental and social sustainability of the trucking fleet and the quality of life of port impacted communities.

Bot… Continue

If Los Angeles is going to achieve its goals of eliminating its use of dirty coal electricity and producing 40% of our power from renewables by 2020 the city will have to make significant investments in solar power. In 2008 the Los Angeles Department of Power released its “Solar LA” plan a commitment to bring nearly 1300 MW of power onto the electric grid. Once enacted the plan will consist of three solar components: rooftop solar, large scale solar, and customer incentive programs.

The… Continue

In the midst of what many are calling the Great Recession the Clean Trucks Programs at the Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports are proving that enacting effective green policies can protect the environment and benefit the economy.

Since its peak in 2006, nationwide sales of commercial heavy-duty trucks have fallen by about 70 percent. In October of last year however when the ports began their trucks programs local dealerships in Southern California saw a significant upswing in sales of port drayag… Continue