(The Center Square) – California Governor Gavin Newsom announced $1 billion in federal funding to enable California to become zero-emission at its ports, which are ranked as the least efficient in the world. Critics say the new systems, which often replace diesel with battery power, will make California’s slow ports even slower, making imported goods more expensive and threatening California’s fuel supply, from Arizona and Nevada.

“Thanks to historic support from the Biden-Harris Administration and our state’s congressional leaders, California’s ports are rapidly transitioning to become zero-emissions” said Newsom in a statement. “Cleaner ports mean cleaner air for communities across our state – this is a huge win for our ports that form the backbone of the world’s fifth-largest economy. »

Newsom’s office pointed out that California ports “handle approximately 40% of the nation’s containerized imports and 30% of U.S. exports,” meaning the ability of the state’s ports to operate impacts every American. In 2021, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles were ranked as the worst in the world by the World Bank and S&P’s annual Container Port Performance Index.

Like Chevron note in his letter of opposition to the governor’s recently passed refinery regulations, California’s ports are already saturated, and thanks to the Jones Act, which limits transportation between U.S. ports to American-built and crewed vessels, he There simply aren’t enough ships to transport U.S. refined products from other U.S. ports to California. This means that reductions in refining capacity in California – the state could soon lose a quarter of its refining capacity – would require substitution with imports from abroad, further supporting California ports.

Critics warn that replacing working machines with technology that is not yet ready could have major economic consequences. Many improvements involve replacing diesel-powered equipment with expensive battery-powered equipment that must be recharged.

“California ports handle approximately 40% of the nation’s containerized imports and I fear that waiting to purchase new tools and technologies, some of which are still in the development phase, will cause even more slowdowns and amplify our chain problems already fragile supply chain. said Assemblymember Laurie Davies R-Laguna Niguel, who serves as vice chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, at The Center Square. “I fully support using the most environmentally friendly technology to reduce GHG emissions, but this cannot come at the expense of consumers and our international trade economy. »

Refinery shutdowns and port delays would have a major impact not only on California, but also on Arizona and Nevada, which rely on California for their fuel supplies. Governors from both states sent a bipartisan letter to Newsom imploring him not to move forward with his new refinery regulations, lest the new rules lead to fuel shortages and price hikes in their states.