With South Carolina’s revenue-generating SPA terminal just around the bend here from Shem Creek, our global terminal plays a vital function on our waterway. We are always faced with loads of trucks coming in and out of Mt. Pleasant – either from I-526, Hwy 17 North, or Hwy 17 South – the 150+ trucking firms around Charleston are a major business partner helping the local economy.

On the other side of the country, a revolutionary new law taking effect on 1/1/11 will make California the first state to limit diesel pollution from big rigs, requiring owners to install diesel exhaust filters on their trucks, with almost all vehicles to be upgraded by 2014.

Through the Heavy Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction, another requirement is for fuel efficient tires and aerodynamic devices to be installed on trailers since they have been proven to lower greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy.

Under Gov. Schwarzenegger, California has made great strides on the environmental front, and I hope South Carolina steps up to the plate and follows their lead here on the east coast. If the trucks coming and going from our SPA terminal were under regulations like this, it would not only be an excellent example for others to follow, but also help clean up our environment.

The next time you go across the bridge and down the road, be sure to stop by and see the incredible Angel Oak Tree on Johns Island, especially before they screw everything up with the rumored highway expansion – something that ties right back into Charleston’s urban growth dilemma.

You won’t be sorry you made the short trip, but hurry while the canopy is still full and 1,500 years of nature’s work isn’t ruined.