Didn’t we just mention “unresponsive maritime authorities”? Here’s a perfect example.

“SACRAMENTO — Attorney general Jerry Brown and national environmental groups demanded Wednesday that the Bush administration address greenhouse-gas emissions from smoke-belching ships which Brown believes contribute significantly to global warming.

“Brown and the environmentalists contend that ocean-going vessels contribute up to 5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases – roughly the same amount as all vehicles driven in the United States.

“Ships burn enormous amounts of bunker oil – the dirtiest kind of petroleum – as they crisscross the high seas and make more than 10,000 stops annually at California ports, such as those in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland.

“Brown petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to adopt strict federal government regulations limiting greenhouse-gas emissions from container ships, cruise liners, oil tankers and other large vessels that stop at American ports.

“The petition was filed in Washington by Brown’s office, supported by Earthjustice, Friends of the Earth, Center for Biological Diversity and Oceana …

“The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, which represents 70 companies that own and operate cargo carriers, declined to comment …

“Proponents of a crackdown on ship emissions said the issue is of prime importance because studies show vessel emissions are expected to increase 75 percent over the next two decades as global trade expands.”

Even port officials recognize and acknowledge the problems that their careless operations have dumped upon surrounding communities. The internet daily covers the pros and cons of the so-called Clean Air Action Plan, and ridiculous proposals are being put forth requiring the trucking industry to pay unconscionable sums to retrofit its vehicles, but from LA/Long Beach port officials we get this headlined “response” as reported in The American Shipper …

“S. Calif. port officials want Punta Colonet to feed boxes north” is the way it was headlined:

“Officials from the neighboring ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, together the busiest container port complex in the Western Hemisphere, are hoping to see the proposed Mexican port develop as a lucrative transshipment station location, with containers arriving in Mexico from Asia reloaded on smaller feeder vessels and sent to the Los Angeles-Long Beach ports.”

[Is more poison the anti-dote for the illnesses caused by port congestion? Is that chutzpah, or what?]