Writing Shotgun

FURUTANI’S FIRST BLOOD

Theo DouglasWed. April 30
 

You can kill the Assemblyman’s rail yards bill, but his heart will go on … talking air quality

It was 10 a.m. Tuesday morning and eighteen hours earlier, Assembly Bill 2332–fledgling 55th District Assemblyman Warren Furutani’s (D-Long Beach) try at banning construction of new or expanded railyards within a quarter-mile of schools–had rather quietly burned to the ground.

“It’s one of those days,” said Furutani’s Field Deputy Brian Mineghino, over water at the Bixby Knolls Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Mineghino’s crisp tone-on-tone white shirt, his richly-stitched tie (and pants, natch)–and his other words–said otherwise. They said AB 2232, one of three key bills Furutani’s office submitted on deadline just 13 days after taking office Feb. 7, had been a huge success.

That’s always what you say in the face of a resounding defeat. It’s the American way even if, as LBReport.com’s Bill Pearl has pointed out, your bill has stalled on a 5-3 vote against advancing it.

But how big a defeat this was–or if it was even a loss–for the 12-week Assemblyman depends on how you see the world.

In Tuesday’s Press-Telegram, AB 2232’s end wasn’t a defeat so much as a rout. The paper carried an editorial denouncing the bill–and a letter to the editor praising the Assemblyman for putting it forward–but nary a mention of its withdrawal from consideration shortly after 4 p.m. Monday.

“… don’t wish him well. If he wins, everybody loses,” a P-T editorialist wrote (and it was such a burn!).

Sure, throttling back on railyards–including local Union Pacific (UP) and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railyards where containers are transferred from truck to train–might improve air quality.

But start telling railroads where they can and can’t build, the P-T blustered, and we’ll never see improved air quality. What? Exactly.

“… paradoxically, the best way to [improve air quality] would be to complete both rail projects,” went the P-T, seeming to make a carrot-and-stick argument. “That’s because the railroads have no hope of getting their projects approved unless they make dramatic improvements in reducing diesel pollution. But without that approval, there is little incentive to replace the dirty diesels anytime soon.”

Huh. (And remember, the morning this ran, the bill was deader than Hayden Christensen’s acting.)

Or is there maybe more incentive now than ever–now that more people have heard the Arctic ice breaking up and seen the polar bears are being outsourced; now that our two ports (great sitcom title btw) are turning green?

“We can’t stress enough that UP and BNSF [are] looking to the future,” Mineghino said, sipping his water and positing that the railways will eventually get greener regardless.

“We’re brushing off the P-T. If anything, we’ve started a pretty important discussion. The bill is dead, but the issues are not. In Sacramento, it’s our job to put forth legislation, it’s [lobbyists’] job to fight for legislation.”

Which means–and this is true–that part of Furutani’s job isn’t getting bills passed. It’s leading the discussion. When Al Gore tried leading the discussion, he lost the presidency and won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Furutani is not Al Gore–and he will not get the Nobel for this–but at least he’s chiming in on the air quality discussion. People in Long Beach are sick of washing dust off their houses.

Mineghino was fairly confident his boss hadn’t pissed off two of the region’s most colorfully-named railroads.

“I hope not. I’ll be bold and say that I don’t think that we [did],” the field deputy said. “If they can come to the table, we’ll meet them there.”

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COMMENTS

  1. 1

    Great article Theo. The green movement cannot be stopped, no matter how much the P-T of the chamber of whores whine. It’s the right thing to do, and just maybe these big polluting businesses have tired of being sued-and losing. Thank God for groups like the NRDC etc, otherwise we’d look like Shanghai (to the delight of randy “hypocrite” gordon).

    By the way, anyone for a drive up the Terminal Island Freeway from the port? It’s so nice to see the children out at Cabrillo and Hudson, with the rattly trucks spewing black smoke RIGHT to them. Just think, the new railyard will be just west of them, about a long baseball throw away. Bet their lungs can hardly wait!

    [report]

    Posted By John on April 30th, 2008 at 10:01 pm

     

  2. 2

    It will not be long until some aggressive young attorney figures out that there is a Erin Brokovich sized settlment waiting in the wings… against the ports and their shipper customers for what they have done to our city. I smell class action in those black plumes of smoke! They willingly employed these trucks, it was cheaper than building out thier own newer fleet of semi’s.. not to mention the bunker fuel they choose to burn while parked in our fine city.

    [report]

    Posted By RKJ on May 1st, 2008 at 4:42 am

     

  3. 3

    RKJ wasn’t there a huge lawsuit involving the tobacco companies, where they knew they were engaging in commerce that killed people?
    The sad thing is, there’s not much you can do with tobacco, but there is cleaner equipment and fuel. Shame on these dirty bastards!

    [report]

    Posted By John on May 1st, 2008 at 8:07 am

     

  4. 4

    Good article Theo and good comments from John and RKJ.

    Yes, the LB establishment’s version of ‘green’, meaning reduced pollution just from particulates, is on the way. However, just remember that reduced particulates do not equate to reduced global warming.

    On the contrary, LB Council and City Hall and Chamber continue to foster (pun not amiss) a vision of a ‘green’ future which requires and promotes massive and ever more emissions from oil and gas combustion. The ‘cleanest’ possible emissions, pure greenhouse-gas CO2, will continue to result and increase from the massive oil and gas burning fostered by globalized industry and long-distance commerce and lots of air transport. All promoted by PoLA/LB, Boeing, and the likes of LGB - the local enterprises especially favored by the establishment. All to bring us more quickly to what the Chinese call ‘interesting’ times. This special LB kind of ‘green’ will accelerate melt or float of at least Greenland ice, thereby raising sea level enough to sink Belmont Shore and lots of other nice lower-lying LB properties, not least PoLB itself.

    With Cheers for May Day - Joe

    [report]

    Posted By Joe Weinstein on May 1st, 2008 at 1:30 pm

     

  5. 5

    Joe there is no doubt that substantial changes need to take place.

    The frustrating thing for me is that there are immediate solutions to the port-related partical matter pollution. The shippers, shipping lines, truckers, (the special interests that is), the port commissioners and the cities would still be smiling at the clouds of black smoke had it not been for environmental groups. If gordon’s union and kyser believe that the extra 5-6 cents on a pair of imported tennis shoes is going to shut down the ports then I have some nice everglades land for sale. Why does business fight so hard against what is not only doable, but clearly the right thing? How does kyser, gordon, hankla et al reconcile the illness and death of their neighbors?

    [report]

    Posted By John on May 3rd, 2008 at 2:17 pm

     

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