By reducing the speed of vessels traveling through the Santa Barbara Channel to 12 knots or less, the Santa Barbara City Council heard this week, 370,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year — and 6,760 tons of nitrogen oxides — are kept out of the atmosphere. This came to light during a briefing by the Air Pollution Control Board, which is currently working in conjunction with the shipping industry and the U.S. Coast Guard. The slower speeds also reduce the risk of whale strikes. Sweetening the pot for the industry — for which time is definitely big money — are cap-and-trade revenues available under the state’s climate change bill.
