America’s ports have labored to clean up pollution. Will that continue?

LOS ANGELES — On a gray March afternoon at the Port of Los Angeles, the largest in the U.S., powerful electric top-handlers whir, beep and grind as they motor back and forth, grabbing trailers from truck beds and stacking them as they move on or off the mighty container ships that ferry goods across the Pacific. “It’s all part of the same goods movement effort, and it has to be cleaned up.” Theral Golden, who’s lived in the West Long Beach area for more than 50 years, poses at Hilltop Park overlooking the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, Monday, March 10, 2025, in Signal Hill, Calif. Theral Golden, who’s lived in the West Long Beach area for more than 50 years, poses at Hilltop Park overlooking the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, Monday, March 10, 2025, in Signal Hill, Calif. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit The Biden money aims to slash 3 million metric tons of carbon pollution across 55 ports in more than two dozen states, through cleaner equipment and vehicles, plus infrastructure and community engagement resources. A picture shot from a bridge overlooking the 710 highway shows the traffic going in and out of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Monday, March 10, 2025, in Long Beach, Calif. A picture shot from a bridge overlooking the 710 highway shows the traffic going in and out of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Monday, March 10, 2025, in Long Beach, Calif. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit But Trump, from his first day back in the White House, has attacked much of his predecessor’s climate policies in the name of “energy dominance”. Decades of pollution A layer of smog lingers over the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles on Monday, March 10, 2025, as seen from Signal Hill, Calif. A layer of smog lingers over the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles on Monday, March 10, 2025, as seen from Signal Hill, Calif. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit The nation’s 300 public and private shipping ports have been centers of pollution for decades. And that will mean for the millions of people that live around the ports and downwind of the ports, poor air quality, more health effects.” Efforts with mixed results A woman reads a book sitting on a column in Hilltop Park overlooking the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, Monday, March 10, 2025, in Signal Hill, Calif. A woman reads a book sitting on a column in Hilltop Park overlooking the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, Monday, March 10, 2025, in Signal Hill, Calif. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Despite being major contributors to U.S. economic activity, ports say they are financially stretched by pressure to automate operations and by contentious labor issues.