I last posted about my annoyance with Sarah Palin’s insinuation that small towns are the only towns that matter, and today I’ve had my worst concerns confirmed. It seems further that Sarah Palin would have the urban residents of Los Angeles and Long Beach suffer health problems so that her rural Alaskan residents can have cheap goods. I guess we just aren’t as important as Alaskans.
The LA Times just published a story about Sarah Palin’s recent letter to Governor Schwarzenegger asking him to veto Senate Bill 974, which would charge $60 per 40 foot container moving through the port of Los Angeles (including the ports in Long Beach), using the approximately $400 million annually generated for pollution-reduction projects. As a Long Beach resident I take issue with politicians from other states urging our Governor to go against the wishes of the citizens of this state. Especially politicians who apparently don’t really know what a city looks like.
The ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach are busy…and that is good for everyone…but the pollution created by such business is not good for everyone. Recently NPR did a story on the negative health effects of the pollution in the Long Beach port. You can read it here. There is a very good reason why our lawmakers, particularly Alan Lowenthal (who offered to amend the Bill by cutting the fee to $30 for the loading of goods from one container to the next without the use of rail or truck, roundly rejected by Palin), want to tax these containers…because the residents in these areas are feeling the effects of the pollution created. The residents have spoken to their respresentatives and Bill 974 is their answer.
I’ve seen the effects of the pollution firsthand. People who live close to the ports often have severe allergies and asthma. Of course, they put up with these ailments because the rent in the area is so cheap. There are families who live in these areas…families with children as small as Palin’s little Trig.
Why should Long Beach and Los Angeles families pay with their health because Alaskans want to live in rural areas and get cheap goods? Build your own port! Live closer to the coast! Come check out Long Beach, Sarah Palin! If you want to live in a rural, small town, there’s a price to pay too. Maybe you all can use those nice oil dividends to pay for your pricey goods. Palin doesn’t seem to have a problem taxing industries for the sake of the citizens in her state…why should we do something in California that Palin would never do in Alaska?
I’m very curious to see how Schwarzenegger handles this one.
