Dirty Air Is His Biggest Challenge

The following headline is the headline of the third page of an article that appears on the front page of today’s LA Times titled “Port Panel Chief Has Plenty to Unload” and the challenges within the article.

Dirty Air Is His Biggest Challenge

The new president of the Los Angeles port commission, S. David Freeman, has launched a search for alternative fuels to replace heavily polluting diesel in some port equipment.

But it neatly captures the challenge that Freeman confronts: to boost trade while slashing exhaust from ships, trucks, trains and machinery at a port that has quietly swelled into one of the West Coast’s worst air polluters.

“ He’s brilliant and he’s shaking things up and when you shake things up, you rattle the status quo,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “I want him to challenge the powers that be, get them to think outside of the box.”

The dirty air is Freeman’s most daunting challenge.