Is the Arizona Immigration Debate Harming L.A.’s Environment?
The Los Angeles City Council voted 13 to 1 last night to ban most city travel to the State of Arizona and also to boycott businesses based in the state, in protest of the state’s new immigration law, which council members argued would lead to racial profiling. There has been concern that the boycott on Arizona businesses, which follows similar boycotts by San Francisco and Oakland, could adversely affect the Port of Los Angeles’s award-winning Clean Truck Program. CNN reported today: The city’s legislative analyst reported that Los Angeles currently has $56 million in contracts with companies headquartered in Arizona. The city’s Harbor Department, which has $26 million of such contracts, is opposing the resolution, the report said. This includes money for the “Clean Truck Program,” it said. “The Harbor does not recommend rescinding this incentive program due to adverse effects this action would have on the environment and public health,” the analyst wrote. Just last month, the Port of
