Comment Log Display

Dear Ms. Nichols and California Air Pollution Control District
Board Members:

Large cargo ships traveling off our coast produce significant GHG
and toxic air emissions that impact our coastal communities. Ship
strikes also pose a threat to whales. Ship strikes are one of the
major causes of mortality for endangered blue whales.  Aside from
the aesthetic beauty of these animals, their importance as key
stone species in the marine ecosystem, and our moral obligation to
do no harm, whale watching is also a major commercial activity in
santa barbara and California. 

Slowing down cargo ships meets multiple objectives in your Draft
Cap-and-Trade Investment Plan including: reducing GHG emissions and
other air pollutants, improving public health, and better
protecting whales. I support including vessel speed reduction in
your Final Plan as a priority for funding and request Cap-and-Trade
money be directed to the Vessel Speed Reduction Initiative.