Seattle, Tacoma ports are the Green Gateway for Asian trade

The Ports of Seattle and Tacoma announced the results of a groundbreaking study that quantifies the carbon footprint of containers coming through the Puget Sound.

The lowest emission route to ship cargo from Asia to the U.S. Midwest is through the Puget Sound, the “Green Gateway” for trade.

“We are proud of our many port customers and tenants who have joined us to deliver a cleaner, healthier environment while contributing valuable jobs and goods to our state’s economy,” said Port of Tacoma Executive Director Tim Farrell. “They help us demonstrate that businesses can do well by doing good.”

The study, commissioned by the Port of Seattle, was conducted by Herbert Engineering, a ship design, engineering and transportation consulting firm based in California. They analyzed carbon footprints of trade routes between Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai, and the U.S. distribution hubs of Chicago, Columbus and Memphis as well as routes that use U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports via the Panama and Suez canals.

For ports of origin as far south as Singapore, carbon emissions for cargo moving by ship to the Pacific Northwest and by rail to a broad swath of the United States are lower than on routes through the Panama Canal, Norfolk, New York and California.

The elected commissions of the two ports have championed efforts to quantify the agencies’ environmental impact, lessen their footprint and improve their competitive position. The carbon study follows on the Puget Sound Maritime Air Emissions Inventory, a groundbreaking study measuring how port activities affect regional air quality, and the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy.<Korea Shipping Gazette>