League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA April 11, 2006 Election
	Ed Barwick Answers Questions Candidate for Member, City Council; City of Long Beach; District 5

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. Do you think the proposed LNG facility should be built in Long Beach Harbor? If elected, what actions would you take to support your position?

After reviewing the preliminary EIR I am inclined to support this project. Our friends and neighbors are correct in looking for ways to clean up emissions from the POLB, in seeking ways to reduce emissions from diesel engines and working to clean our air to reduce incidents of lung disease. Well here is our opportunity to take a step in the right direction. Clean burning natural gas is that step. It's nice to say we need to clean up our environment but someone must be bold enough to accept the challenge and begin taking steps in the right direction. This is one step in that direction. Are there risks, absolutely? Are there risks in refining gasoline, absolutely and they are greater than importing LNG; but we continue to have refineries and they exist right here in the south bay + but we need them to provide the fuel upon which our entire society depends. Why not take the small, actually smaller risk of incident than an oil refinery, of importing a fuel that takes all of us a small step in the correct direction to help ourselves and our neighborhoods begin cleaning up our environment! If you always look at the worst possible case of a potential terrorist attack and then fail to do what is right for our society then we have fallen prey to the terrorists and have let them win.

2. Should Long Beach airport be expanded? If so, to what degree, and what improvements and enhancements would be essential? Under what circumstances, if any, should the number of available flight slots be increased?

We must support and maintain our current noise ordinance. Modernizing and upgrading our airport facility is a major step in this direction. It shows that the City of Long Beach truly supports the intent of this ordinance by providing an adequate facility to process passengers from these flights. An upgraded facility will also improve security of operations, provide a more positive image of our city to arriving passengers, reduce pollution related to the already existing traffic levels, and provide a better working environment for all of our airport employees. The addition of a vehicle parking structure will help reduce air pollution and improve revenue at the airport.

3. What should Long Beach be doing to improve air quality?

We need to aggressively support the POLB green port policies. These include the vessel slowing program when vessels come within 20 miles of the port and the "cold iron" program. We need to support conversion of railroad engines to more modern and less polluting engines and the pier pass program. We need to fast track improvements to the 710 freeway that reduce congestion and a grade separation between truck traffic and automobiles. At the airport we need to provide the necessary number of airplane pads that minimize engine idling and allow these planes to hook-up to shore power.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League. 

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: March 22, 2006 16:34
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