{"id":145811,"date":"2026-01-23T04:43:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/145811\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T04:43:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:43:28","slug":"uncertainty-aside-state-of-the-port-is-nothing-but-good-according-to-the-port-at-least","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/145811\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncertainty aside, State of the Port is nothing but good…according to the Port, at least –"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Port<\/a>Port of Long Beach CEO Noel Hacegaba (with guitar) and the TEUs. <\/p>\n

A complaint I\u2019ve always had about Long Beach\u2019s State of the City event<\/a> is that, rather than provide an honest look of where we\u2019re at, the mayor acts as head cheerleader, telling one and all that the city is \u201cstrong and getting stronger\u201d (a quote we hear literally every year), with no ownership taken of what\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n

But it turns out that compared to the State of the Port event, the State of the City is almost hard-bitten realism. To hear new Port of Long Beach CEO Noel Hacegaba tell it, the only takeaway from last September\u2019s \u201conce-in-a-lifetime mishap\u201d at the Port<\/a> was a silver lining, in that the response of all parties involved \u201cshowed that we don\u2019t just train to be resilient, we are resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is there really nothing but good at the Port, both now and on the horizon? We caught a few things \u2014 both substantive and trivial \u2014 that makes us wonder.<\/p>\n

Is it really all that?
Before Hacegaba even took the stage, the spin machine was in full effect. In his introductory remarks, Mayor Rex Richardson praised the Port\u2019s recent \u201clandmark agreement<\/a> with the South Coast Air Quality Management District [\u2026] that puts a major step forward toward faster, cleaner, zero-emission[s] infrastructure while protecting our local jobs and the workers that power our economy.\u201d Hacegaba himself went on to tout this \u201ccooperative agreement,\u201d saying it \u201ccontains time-bound and enforceable commitments to develop zero-emissions infrastructure [\u2026].\u201d<\/p>\n

But nonprofit, nonpartisan news org CalMatters urged<\/a> the SCAQMD to vote against \u201cthe so-called cooperative agreement\u201d on the grounds that \u201cimpacted community members were not meaningfully included\u201d in the process of crafting the agreement, which \u201cweakens the [D]istrict\u2019s ability to reduce emissions and it creates a dangerous precedent.\u201d CalMatters noted that the agreement \u201cincludes a five-year ban on rulemaking. That handcuffs South Coast Air Quality Management District, effectively blocking the agency\u2019s authority to address port pollution when the South Coast Air Basin can least afford a delay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t quit your day job
Immediately prior to Hacegaba\u2019s taking the stage, we got a music video<\/a> featuring of The TCUs \u2014 an ad hoc employee band featuring Hacegaba on lead guitar \u2014 performing a version of Modern English\u2019s \u201cI Melt with You\u201d so lazily rewritten it made absolutely sense: \u201cMoving forward using all my breath \/ Making sure the Port is never second-best \/ I saw the world the world growing all around your face \/ Never really knowing it was always mesh and lace\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busy and getting busier
Hacegaba noted that 2025 was the busiest year in the Port\u2019s 115-year history, moving nearly 9.9 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units, i.e., standard shipping containers), only the third time in the Port\u2019s history they\u2019ve moved over 9 million TEUs. But that\u2019s nothing compared to what\u2019s coming: by 2050, the Port expects to move over 20 million TEUs per year.<\/p>\n

To handle this increase, the Port is slated to complete the \u201clargest in-port railyard in the world\u201d by 2032. \u201cThe development of modern, sustainable infrastructure is all part of our 10-year, $3.2 billion Capital Improvement Program, the largest of any seaport in North America,\u201d Hacegaba said. \u201cAnd the centerpiece of this is the $1.8 billion-dollar On-Dock Rail Support Facility at Pier B. We call it America\u2019s Green Gateway. It will double the acreage of the existing rail yard and more than triple the volume of cargo moved by rail from 1.5 to 4.7 million TEUs. [\u2026] Speed to market is the key to our success and rail connectivity is the key to our future.\u201d<\/p>\n

For all this, Hacegaba harped on the Port\u2019s goal of being \u201cthe first zero-emissions port in the world,\u201d setting 2050 as the target date.<\/p>\n

But he admitted that much is uncertain, at least in the near-term: \u201c[\u2026 W]e continue to keep a close eye on the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s decision on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act case, which is expected to be announced any day. The Supreme Court\u2019s opinion is poised to rule on the legality of the tariffs, but it will not remove the uncertainty already created by tariffs. The only certainty is\u2026more uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Always check your work, kids
According to one graphic flashed up behind Hacegaba, between 2024 and 2025 soybean exports to Indonesia rose from 19,000 TEUs to 27,000 TEUs, which is \u201cup 6,000 TEUs.\u201d Let\u2019s hope their accounting is better where it counts.<\/p>\n

Semantics?
\u201cWith your help, we became the first green port,\u201d Hacegaba declared. But despite being recognized as an industry leader, the Port of Long Beach was not even the first green port in California. That honor goes to the Port of Hueneme<\/a>, which achieved \u201cGreen Marine\u201d certification in 2017 \u2014 recognition that the Port of Long Beach has yet to receive, while the Ports of Stockton, Oakland, and San Diego have since joined the list<\/a>. (Two terminal operators at the Port of Long Beach, Metro Ports and SSA Marine, have been certified Green Marine.)<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s nothing compared to this bizarre boner: \u201cLast July, the railroad sector made major news with the proposed merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern,\u201d Hacegaba announced. \u201cThis would establish the first transcontinental railroad in U.S. history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering that the first transcontinental railroad line was completed May 10, 1869<\/a>, we\u2019re not entirely sure what Hacegaba was talking about. But whatever it was, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern will have to straighten some stuff out before it comes to pass, because the day after the State of the Port, their merger application was rejected<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Words, words, words
In addition to a litany of bumper-sticker slogans (e.g., \u201cWe lead with vision and inspire with action\u201d; \u201cTeamwork makes the dream work\u201d; \u201cWe\u2019re doing the right things for the right reasons in the right way\u201d), Hacegaba occasionally extended himself into empty metaphors. \u201cAny football fans here today?\u201d he asked. \u201c[\u2026] This is what I told the team: we\u2019re going to reset the goal line, we\u2019re going to expand our playbook, we\u2019re gonna update our gameplan, and we\u2019re moving to a hurry-up offense, because here in Long Beach we play to win \u2014 and together we\u2019re going to put a lot of points on the board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever you say, coach.<\/p>\n

Like this:<\/p>\n

Like Loading…<\/p>\n

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