Michael Regan
Los Angeles, CA
Thanks, Consultant Barragán, for this introduction.
Thanks for inviting me to your district and to your unwavering management and dedication to your group.
Mayor Bass, it's nice to have you ever with us. Thanks for welcoming me to your metropolis.
To the Wilmington Waterfront Promenade and Port of Los Angeles, thanks for welcoming us.
We’re additionally grateful for all of the group members and native leaders who be part of us.
It’s my honor to be right here.
Since my begin as EPA Administrator, I've taken each alternative to go from behind my desk in Washington, DC, and out on the bottom to fulfill with people who find themselves instantly affected by the work we do.
I visited communities throughout the nation and joined folks, on their entrance porches, of their church buildings, and of their colleges.
And as we speak is not any completely different.
Earlier this afternoon, I met with native leaders who spoke to me in regards to the air high quality challenges impacting the communities surrounding the Port of Los Angeles.
Whether or not it's the air pollution produced by the vans, ships and locomotives coming out and in of the port, or the diesel emissions that come from day by day port operations – too many communities residing close to or across the ports of the Our nation is experiencing poor air high quality.
People, from day one, President Biden and Vice President Harris have made it clear that this administration is dedicated to creating positive that each one folks have clear air to breathe, whatever the shade of their pores and skin, the group they dwell in, or the cash in his pocket. .
And since day one as administrator, I’ve been targeted on that dedication.
We all know that hubs just like the Port of Los Angeles are important to commerce, and very important to our nation's financial development and provide chain infrastructure.
However we additionally know that defending folks ought to by no means come on the expense of a rising economic system.
In reality, wholesome communities and a robust economic system go hand in hand.
Simply final month, the EPA launched our $3 billion Clear Ports Program — that's billion with a “B” — to fund zero-emission port tools and infrastructure upgrades, whereas help local weather and air high quality planning in our nation's ports.
However this program is extra than simply an funding in cleaner harbors—it's an funding in environmental justice.
For years, EPA has labored instantly with communities throughout our nation to enhance air high quality by our Harbor Initiative and Diesel Emissions Discount Act applications, and the our Clear Ports Program builds on the muse these applications have established.
Individuals who dwell in communities scuffling with environmental and air high quality challenges know their experiences higher than anybody else, which is why significant group engagement and air high quality planning has been central to this program.
The Clear Ports Program lays the foundations for transformational change within the port sector, enabling a transition to zero-emission operations.
This transition won’t solely enhance the well being of the encircling port communities, but additionally the well being of port employees—lowering the variety of potential work days misplaced resulting from sickness, and rising the effectiveness and resilience of the port workforce. .
We prioritize tasks that display collaboration with communities that bear the brunt of port-related air air pollution and acknowledge President Biden's, and this company's, dedication to environmental justice.
Merely put, the EPA's Clear Ports program is a recreation changer.
It's a recreation changer for communities residing close to ports, who will profit from cleaner air and improved public well being.
It’s a recreation changer for our workforce, which is able to profit from new well-paying jobs created in our home clear vitality sector.
And it’s a recreation changer for our nation's ports, which is able to use these historic investments to improve and revolutionize its port infrastructure, serving to to make sure that America shouldn’t be solely aggressive on the planet, however a world chief within the improvement of vital clear vitality applied sciences.
Due to President Biden's historic investments in America, we’re constructing a more healthy and brighter future—a future the place all folks have clear air to breathe, clear water to drink, and a protected place to dwell, work, and play.
And we received't cease till the job is completed.
Thanks!
