Puentes on the Problem of "Panamax Phantoms"
Posted January 5, 2012 in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably
My friend Rob Puentes published a piece in The New Republic online about one of the dangers of having no national freight plan (unlike other industrialized nations, I'm sure), which ties in well to the piece I just wrote about greening a burgeoning world of goods movement.
Turns out that Charleston and Savannah are scrambling to line up public financing for port expansion to accommodate the new gigantic ships that will be able to traverse the Panama Canal in a few short years. But as Rob points out, those ships will likely be already committed to routes to ports that are ready for them in Hampton Roads, Baltimore and New Jersey-New York. So their expansion may be for naught, possibly wasting taxpayer dollars.
A suboptimal outcome, to say the least, in an era of tight budgets. But definitely possible in the appalling absence of a real national freight plan.
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Comments
Blanca Mesa — Jan 6 2012 04:39 PM
NPR's Greg Allen just did a piece on the East Coast Ports' Race to Deep Dredge their harbors to lure post-Panamax ships but some projects have the potential for serious environmental consequences to rivers and bays, including the Savannah River and Biscayne Bay, in Miami. Environmental concerns have prompted lawsuits, which are pending. http://www.npr.org/2012/01/05/144737372/the-race-to-dig-deeper-ports-for-bigger-cargo-ships?sc=tw
Neal Svendsen — Jan 8 2012 01:41 AM
Wetland regulations can seem vague and difficult for uninformed people. In this case if the Sackett's had followed the proper permit process they's likely be fine. But it does seem to upset the COE and the EPA when people don't follow them, either through ignorance or willful disregard.