Matsuoka publishes report chapter on importance of partnerships in cleaning up freight transportation pollution
Fellow Martha Matsuoka co-authored the chapter "Working Together to Clean Up Freight Transportation" in the new report from the Poverty & Race Research Action Council, Strategies for Health Justice: Lessons from the Field.
Southern California, the “international gateway” for trade, contains one of the world’s busiest container port complexes. In 2017 alone, the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handled cargo with a combined value of over $460 billion. The traffic from these ports, combined with that of attendant diesel-emitting port-serving ships, trucks, trains and other equipment, results in significant sources of air pollution to an area that houses over 875,000 people. Residents of the area surrounding the ports are disproportionately people of color, making the health and environmental impacts of the ports a pressing environmental justice issue. This case study illustrates the important role of partnerships in advancing health, environmental and justice policies and discusses the growing influence of environmental justice and frontline communities to clean up the freight transportation sector.
