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Brown Demands Bush Address Ship Emissions

Posted on: Wednesday, 3 October 2007, 21:00 CDT

By Steve Geissinger

By State Attorney General Jerry Brown and national environmental groups demanded Wednesday the Bush administration address greenhouse- gas emissions from ships, which they say add significantly to smog in California and to global warming.

Brown and the groups said ocean-going vessels account for up to 5 percent of the world's greenhouse gases - about the same as the carbon dioxide spewing from all vehicles in the United States.

Ships burn bunker oil -- the dirtiest petroleum product of all - as they make more than 10,000 calls annually at California ports, including those in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland.

Specifically, Brown petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to adopt strict greenhouse gas-emission regulations for sea- going vessels.

``The EPA has the authority to curb greenhouse gas emissions and our petition asks the agency to make specific findings that ships significantly contribute to global warming,'' Brown said during a teleconference.

The Bush administration, overall, opposes mandatory curbs on greenhouse gas emissions, despite court rulings that say it has such powers.

Bush administration officials did not immediately respond to Brown.

The state attorney general acknowledges that international law governs ocean-going vessels. Virtually all the ships that transport cargo to the United States are registered under foreign flags.

``But international legal rights do not include polluting the air or water near our coastal cities,'' Brown said.

``If the United States is to do its part in reducing the threat of global climate disruption, the EPA must limit the global warming emission from ships that enter U.S. ports,'' he said.

-- Contact Steve Geissinger at sgeissinger@angnewspapers.com, or 916-447-9302.

Source: Oakland Tribune

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