"California Air Board Expands Clean-Fuel Shipping Zone"

"More than half of oceangoing vessels serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been skirting traditional shipping lanes to avoid air pollution curbs, prompting California officials Thursday to extend the state's clean-fuel zone beyond the Channel Islands.

The unanimous vote by the California Air Resources Board came after strong protests from the U.S. Navy that the jump in commercial ship traffic across the Point Mugu Sea Range was 'seriously jeopardizing successful completion of vital Department of Defense testing and training missions.'

California's clean-fuel zone, which took effect in July 2009, is the toughest ship pollution rule in the world, requiring oceangoing vessels to substitute less-polluting oil for the bunker fuel they commonly use."

Margot Roosevelt reports for the Los Angeles Times June 24, 2011.