| Apr. 25, 2008 The South
Coast Air Quality Management District will honor U. S. Sen. Barbara Boxer on
Saturday with its first-ever “Environmental Legislator of the Year” award
for her leadership in legislation to reduce ship pollution and other
environmental policies.
“Senator Boxer’s commitment to the environmental clean-up of ocean-going
ships will help protect the health of millions of Americans and is crucial
to achieving health-based air quality standards in many areas of the
nation,” said AQMD Governing Board Chairman William A. Burke, Ed.D.
Burke will present the AQMD’s first “Environmental Legislator of the
Year” award to Sen. Boxer on Sat., April 26, at 12:15 p.m. during a ceremony
on the steps of the Santa Monica Library at 601 Santa Monica Blvd.
“We commend Senator Boxer for her long-term, ongoing commitment to clean
air issues including the promotion of zero-emission electric vehicles and
the removal of subsidies for gas-guzzling SUVs,” Burke said.
Under Sen. Boxer’s leadership, landmark legislation was introduced in
2007 to clean up ocean-going cargo and container ships -- the largest
under-regulated source of air pollution in the Southland.
The Marine Vessel Emissions Reduction Act (S 1499) – co-authored with
Sen. Dianne Feinstein and U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis – would require the federal
government to adopt tougher pollution controls for ocean-going vessels.
Emissions from ships calling on the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
have severe health impacts. It is estimated that approximately 800
premature deaths per year result from exposure to fine particulate pollution
caused by exhaust from ocean-going vessels. In addition, AQMD recently
completed its third Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study (MATES III) which
showed that ship emissions create cancer risks of more than 100 in 1 million
for more than four million residents in communities directly impacted by
port activities.
In addition to her leadership in introducing S 1499, Boxer has long been
a champion of environmental and air quality issues. Some of her
achievements in the Senate include:
- Authoring legislation requiring that all trucks in the United States
comply with the federal Clean Air Act;
- Co-sponsoring legislation to clean up smog, soot, mercury and carbon
dioxide;
- Fighting for legislation to ensure that industries install
state-of-the-art air pollution control equipment;
- Secured the repeal of a luxury tax on electric vehicles; and
- Introduced legislation to remove subsidies for gas-guzzling vehicles.
Boxer has chaired the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
since 2007.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
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