Palin asks Schwarzenegger to veto fees aimed at cutting pollution at California ports
She says the new fees for Long Beach, L.A. and Oakland ports would harm the economies of Alaska and California.
SACRAMENTO — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican candidate for vice president, has urged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto a fee on cargo containers going through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, setting off a wave of criticism from California environmentalists.
Palin's letter to Schwarzenegger is dated Aug. 28 -- one day before presidential candidate and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced that he had picked her as his running mate. The letter argues that both consumers and the economy in California and Alaska would suffer as a result of the fee.
Though the issue might otherwise be viewed as a relatively parochial port matter, Palin's newfound status as a national political figure has raised the stakes in what state environmentalists consider to be their most important pollution reduction effort this year. They say Palin has no business getting involved in the California issue.
"Why should Gov. Schwarzenegger take into account what out-of-state interests are saying?" said Lisa Warshaw, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for Clean Air. "It's unfortunate that she is using her popularity to push her agenda on this state."
The bill's author, state Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), said Palin appears not to appreciate how important the proposal is for the health of Californians.
"She certainly displays a lack of understanding," Lowenthal said.
Palin's missive attacks Senate Bill 974, which has been approved by the state Legislature but needs Schwarzenegger's signature to become law.
The bill would create a $60 fee for each 40-foot cargo container moving through the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, which together handle more than 40% of the nation's goods.
The fees would raise $400 million annually for such pollution-reduction projects as installing cleaner-burning truck and train engines and building roadways under or over railroad tracks to avoid long lines of idling vehicles.
"Enactment of Senate Bill 974 will have negative impacts on both Alaska and California," Palin wrote. "For Alaskans, a very large percentage of goods [90% or more] shipped to Alaska arrive as marine cargo in a container."
Palin said many Alaskan communities lack road access and depend entirely on goods shipped by container, something that has significantly increased in cost in recent years. Many of those containers pass through the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports before arriving in Alaska, and Palin argues that the fee will add even more to the cost of goods shipped to her state.
