Pacific Environment

On October 29, PE’s Antonio Santos attended an event with President Biden at the Port Of Baltimore, where he announced that the port had been selected to receive $147 million in grant funding for the deployment of electric cargo-handling equipment and drayage trucks and supporting infrastructure, and climate and air quality planning. That same morning the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled the recipients of the Clean Ports Program grants, which were made possible under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 which provided $3 billion to fund zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure as well as climate and air quality planning for U.S. ports. ⚡ 🚢 Now we call for stronger regulatory policies and additional funding at the federal level which are crucial to moving the industry toward a zero-emissions future aligned with the 1.5 degree Celsius goal set out in the Paris Agreement. Highlights: 🌎 55 applicants across 27 states and territories 💰 Largest investment in combating climate change & promoting clean energy in history 😷 Advances environmental justice by reducing diesel air pollution from U.S. ports & surrounding communities  💪🏼 Promotes good-paying and union jobs that help America’s ports thrive 🚫 Will eliminate 3 million metric tons of carbon pollution, equivalent to 391,220 homes' energy use for one year Read more here: https://bit.ly/3AqXLkr

What does an environmental #health victory look like to you? 🌱 For our #PortsForPeople 🚢 initiative in Southern California, it means passionate community members engaging directly with clean air decision-makers! Thank you to our partner organizations, community groups and committed residents who SHOW UP 📢 to demand #LongBeach & #LosAngeles decision-makers invest in clean air and thriving communities, not fossil-fueled promises.  Here’s a look back at our Climate Campaigner for Southern California, Cristhian Tapia-Delgado — a Long Beach resident himself — joining Move LA and Coalition for Clean Air this summer to urge South Coast Air Quality Management District to support the Indirect Source Rule for Rail 🛤️ — which was unanimously adopted by the governing board! 🙌 Together, let’s continue turning these victories into a reality in 2025. Will you support Pacific Environment’s clean air initiatives? Every contribution counts! 💚 👉 Donate here: https://bit.ly/donatePE

SpOokY season is upon us! 🎃 And the scariest part of Halloween isn’t when your best friend makes you watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre (again) — it’s all of the toxic #plastic. 💀 ⁠ 🧛 U.S. households spend $11.6 billion on holidays like Halloween — and $3.8 billion of that is on costumes alone. (National Retail Federation)  🕸️7 million costumes are thrown away each year. Largely made of polyesters and other plastics, this is equivalent to 83 million bottles being trashed. (Hubbub)  🧪Lead, cadmium and BPA have all been found in costume pieces. Exposure to such substances has been linked to health harms for humans. (Center for Environmental Health) So what can YOU do? Don’t get ~haunted~ by the endless plastic consumerism. Instead, shop your closet for costume ideas (including non-clothes like bedding and cardboard), borrow clothes from friends, and mindfully thrift when necessary. And if you’re feeling especially spooked 😱 call on the Biden administration to curb plastic extraction and production: https://bit.ly/gptpetition

Pacific Environment’s Jayne Stevenson attended a shore power event at Port of Seattle's Pier 66, celebrating the full electrification of all three cruise terminals. This past June, the Port of Seattle became the first port in the nation to require 100% of all cruise vessels homeported be shore power capable by 2027. ⚡🚢 📰 In June 2024, the The Seattle Times editorial board weighed in, writing: “The next challenge for the port is a parallel plugging-in of the container ships and other vessels that call on the Northwest Seaport Alliance’s Seattle and Tacoma ports. A total of 14,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from cargo ships could be removed from the atmosphere if its berths — which welcomed nearly 1,700 cargo vessel visits in 2023 — were electrified while ships were loaded and unloaded.” We agree with the editorial board of the Seattle Times, and urge the state of Washington to implement a statewide shore power policy to reduce air pollution from all ocean-going vessels at the ports to protect the health and well-being of portside communities. Read more: https://bit.ly/3UvfxKb

🎉 Today, the Biden-Harris administration announced the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Ports Program grant recipients. These grants were made possible under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 which provided $3 billion to fund zero-emission port equipment and infrastructure as well as climate and air quality planning for U.S. ports. ⚡ 🚢 Highlights: 🌎 55 applicants across 27 states and territories 💰 Largest investment in combating climate change & promoting clean energy in history 😷 Advances environmental justice by reducing diesel air pollution from U.S. ports & surrounding communities  💪🏼 Promotes good-paying and union jobs that help America’s ports thrive 🚫 Will eliminate 3 million metric tons of carbon pollution, equivalent to 391,220 homes' energy use for one year Congrats to the @EPA & Biden-Harris administration. Now we call for stronger regulatory policies and additional funding at the federal level which are crucial to moving the industry toward a zero-emissions future aligned with the 1.5 degree Celsius goal  set out in the Paris Agreement. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3AqXLkr

“Ultimately, #conservation doesn’t happen in an office. It happens in the field, engaging with government agencies and local communities in remote islands or areas, which are often those first to be affected by declines in #biodiversity … And the action plans presented at COP16 will help us make the most of our time in the field! ” 🌿 🐠 🌊 Thank you to Pacific Environment’s Marine Director Silvia Sanchez Bor for this fantastic readout on the just-getting-started #COP16 now taking place in Cali, Colombia! 🇨🇴 Silvia is spot on: Global meetings like at COP16 are essential to the collaboration needed to stem #nature loss, including meetings between governments as well as with local stakeholders such as fishers, NGOs and businesses. Read more in our latest blog here ⬇️  https://bit.ly/4hlG46w   The Pew Charitable Trusts The Nature Conservancy World Wildlife Fund Wildlife Conservation Society

Have you heard of 30x30? 🐠 It’s a global plan that was developed to halt and reverse nature loss, including putting 30% of the planet and 30% of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030 agreed on at COP15. ⏰ Next week Pacific Environment will be at #COP16, where countries will have to agree on a concrete plan for actually meeting those targets by 2030. Pacific Environment is positioned at the nexus of governments and communities of Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia, and we are committed to supporting each of these countries in identifying and solving the challenges they face in achieving these targets to ensure communities, livelihoods and the #environment are protected. 🌊 This work, and our advocacy at important conferences like #COP16, wouldn’t be possible without generous supporters like you: https://bit.ly/donatePE

Looking for ways to celebrate #WorldSustainabilityDay? Here are a couple things you can do to be more sustainable for WSD (and every day!): ❌ REFUSE single-use plastic whenever possible. 📉 REDUCE your plastic footprint. Cut down on your consumption of unnecessary goods that are made of and packaged in plastic. If it will leave behind plastic pollution, don’t buy it! 🌿 REUSE durable, non-toxic straws, utensils, to-go containers, bottles, bags and other everyday items. Choose glass, paper, stainless steel, wood, ceramic and bamboo over plastic. 🔄 RETHINK what you can’t Refuse, Reduce, or Reuse. Pay attention to the entire lifecycle of items you bring into your life, from source to manufacture to distribution to disposal. 📣 RISE up and call on U.S. and global leaders to take action on plastics: https://bit.ly/gptpetition. Use any and every chance you can to advocate for structural change, and to hold polluters accountable. “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” ― Anne Marie Bonneau What are you doing to be sustainable in 2024? Let us know in the comments below👇

Looking for ways to celebrate #WorldSustainabilityDay? Here are a couple things you can do to be more sustainable for WSD (and every day!): ❌ REFUSE single-use plastic whenever possible. 📉 REDUCE your plastic footprint. Cut down on your consumption of unnecessary goods that are made of and packaged in plastic. If it will leave behind plastic pollution, don’t buy it! 🌿 REUSE durable, non-toxic straws, utensils, to-go containers, bottles, bags and other everyday items. Choose glass, paper, stainless steel, wood, ceramic and bamboo over plastic. 🔄 RETHINK what you can’t Refuse, Reduce, or Reuse. Pay attention to the entire lifecycle of items you bring into your life, from source to manufacture to distribution to disposal. 📣 RISE up and call on U.S. and global leaders to take action on plastics: https://bit.ly/gptpetition. Use any and every chance you can to advocate for structural change, and to hold polluters accountable. “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” ― Anne Marie Bonneau What are you doing to be sustainable in 2024? Let us know in the comments below👇

It’s time for #COP16 in Colombia! 🌿 🇨🇴 Mike and Janine of Pacific Environment’s Philippines 🇵🇭 team are heading to Cali, Colombia along with our Marine team 🌊 to advocate for stronger #biodiversity efforts for the Philippines along with Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam — the other Southeast Asian countries Pacific Environment works with our partners in. A major theme of COP16 is #30x30 — where countries commit to protecting their land, freshwater and marine resources to meet the global goal of 30% of the planet protected by 2030. 🌏 Can we count on you to make a donation today? Pacific Environment works to ensure those most affected by biodiversity policies have a seat at the table when the resources they depend on are at stake. Join Pacific Environment in championing biodiversity: https://bit.ly/donatePE