seaports

VerdeXchange 2015 Panel Excerpts: ‘Ports & Their Greening’

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Noel Hacegaba

The VerdeXchange 2015 Conference held in Downtown LA featured a panel focusing on sustainability efforts to clean goods movement at the San Pedro Bay ports. Moderated by the Port of Los Angeles’s former Director of International Trade Stephen Cheung (now president of World Trade Center Los Angeles), the discussion offered perspectives from California Air Resources Board Commissioner Hector De La Torre, Port of Long Beach Chief Commercial Officer Noel Hacegaba, and Southern California Gas Company Environmental Policy Manager Jerilyn Lopez Mendoza. VX News includes their edited contributions here, covering CARB’s Sustainable Freight Strategy, the ports’ Clean Truck Program, and the potential role of natural gas in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

Jon Slangerup: Port of Long Beach’s Capital Investments & Clean-Technology Innovations

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Appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Long Beach in June, Jon Slangerup joins POLB with 34 years of corporate leadership experience—including expertise in aviation, logistics, and clean technology. In agreeing to head a seaport that moves $180 billion worth of trade annually, Slangerup faces logistical and technological hurdles that the port must overcome. In this interview with VerdeXchange News, he discusses current infrastructure challenges and improvements at the Port of Long Beach, efforts to green operations, and POLB’s relationship with the Port of Los Angeles. He also remarks on POLB’s economic health and awareness of growing global seaport competition.

LA’s Mayor Appoints City’s First International Trade Director, Stephen Cheung

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In August, VerdeXchange News sat down with Stephen Cheung, the Mayor of Los Angeles’ first Director of International Trade, to discuss the purview and mission of his new position, which liaisons between the Port of Los Angeles, LAX, and City Hall. With trade being a critical component of the LA regional economy, and with the infrastructure of trade constantly evolving, Cheung works for goods movement, logistics, storage, and transportation to operate as smoothly as possible to retain customers doing business in and through LA. The potential growth of ethanol trade with Brazil serves as an example of how LA is making strides to adapt.