The Impact of the Plan for Sea Port Expansion in Long Beach San Pedro - Case Study Example

In the first place, there is a need to significantly consider what this out-of-context means. The consensus stand of the concerned citizens about the air emission issue is that it should be viewed as total emission not just solely in line with port expansion. This means that they believe that whatever emitis ted into the atmosphere that comes from fuel sources can be considered remarkable pollutants in the air. These pollutants include diesel exhaust, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxide and it is expected to continue to increase in the future because of the spiraling upward growth of global trade and the transport of goods through ports (Bailey & Solomon, 2004).

This only implies that the expansion of port the will remarkably increase harmful gas emissions and will leapfrog the number of environmental pollutants in the environment. Provided that greener alternative fuel will be used, the claim of the planning staff of the harbor is at some point making sense. However, relying on green fuel alternatives alone such as biodiesel may not be teetotally able at present time considering that it would compete with human’s basic needs for food and energy (Wardle, 2003). It is noted that biodiesel or other green fuel alternatives are generated from agricultural raw materials, which happened to be integral parts of humanity’s subsistence pattern.

Furthermore, greener fuel source of energy are expensive due to production process and availability of raw materials (Collantes, 2010). This only makes the issue of addressing environmental problems subjectively harder, which further points out the fact that sea ports' air emissions should be substantially considered in great detail. Taking the lead The planning staff of the port or harbor without question could not substantially take the lead considering that concerned citizens are against their plans in the first place.

What they can substantially do is look for better alternatives with which the people could agree. Concerned health issues are in line with this activity. It is noted that various illnesses such as heart problems, lung cancer, and other related diseases such as asthma and the like are associated with environmental pollutants from vehicles emitted in the air (Collantes, 2010). It is not surprising that people will be eventually alarmed about the plan for expansion of the port because it involves a significant amount of air emissions coming from vehicles or ships which sooner or later will not only comprise a single unit but may be diverse due to increasing in global trade and widening the scope of economic activities.

At some point, the planning staff of the harbor can only think of better designs and plans to ensure that concerned citizens will be ensured of their health-related concerns. In the meantime, it is good that people will be given the right information about the situation and everything will be explained to them accordingly to make them knowledgeable about the whole plan. This will also open up their understanding not only of a certain issue but the entire purpose of the port expansion.