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I'd like to think that if we declared a state of emergency, suspended all regulations and deployed a couple battalions of Seabees we could still build a port in

I'd like to think that if we declared a state of emergency, suspended all regulations and deployed a couple battalions of Seabees we could still build a port in a matter of months, rather than years. I'd like to think we still have those kinds of capabilities if they were needed, but I'm increasingly not sure that we actually do.

WJW 5y ago
Depends on what you consider a "port" to be. Sure, a shoddy good-enough-for-wartime place where ships can dock can be built in a few months. Building a decent container port with proper container cranes, train yards and the software to integrate it all in a couple of months? That capability has never existed.
_jal 5y ago
If you can develop the political will to treat the citizens of LA like we did the Iraqis in the second Gulf adventure, sure. Just suspend the rule of law and send in Bechtel behind a bunch of guns.
- jaywalk 5y ago
  I'm not saying we should do that, but it might be preferable to allowing the citizens of LA to hold the entire global economy hostage because they love their regulations.
  - abduhl 5y ago
    We didn’t do it when it was just a union why should we do it for the citizens of LA? https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/how-only-14000-workers-briefly-slowed-down-the-entire-economy/385858/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/how-onl...
  - bcrosby95 5y ago
    LA county already has the two largest ports in the USA: Long Beach and LA. Maybe some other region can pick up the slack.
    - jaywalk 5y ago
      I agree, if/when we build a new port it shouldn't be in LA County or probably California at all.
- xxpor 5y ago
  The feds wouldn't have to follow CEQA if they didn't want to. The whole supremacy clause and all that.
JoeAltmaier 5y ago
The cement alone would take years to pour. The giant cranes have to have rail to unload onto, and it has to go somewhere. The computers to control it could take years to program. The harbor dredging and shore upgrades could take years. And its not all in parallel. Maybe an off-shore port? With a floating causeway of rail? To do something quickly requires some out-of-the-box thinking.

WJW 5y ago

Depends on what you consider a "port" to be. Sure, a shoddy good-enough-for-wartime place where ships can dock can be built in a few months. Building a decent container port with proper container cranes, train yards and the software to integrate it all in a couple of months? That capability has never existed.

_jal 5y ago

If you can develop the political will to treat the citizens of LA like we did the Iraqis in the second Gulf adventure, sure. Just suspend the rule of law and send in Bechtel behind a bunch of guns.

jaywalk 5y ago
I'm not saying we should do that, but it might be preferable to allowing the citizens of LA to hold the entire global economy hostage because they love their regulations.
- abduhl 5y ago
  We didn’t do it when it was just a union why should we do it for the citizens of LA? https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/how-only-14000-workers-briefly-slowed-down-the-entire-economy/385858/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/how-onl...
- bcrosby95 5y ago
  LA county already has the two largest ports in the USA: Long Beach and LA. Maybe some other region can pick up the slack.
  - jaywalk 5y ago
    I agree, if/when we build a new port it shouldn't be in LA County or probably California at all.
xxpor 5y ago
The feds wouldn't have to follow CEQA if they didn't want to. The whole supremacy clause and all that.

JoeAltmaier 5y ago

The cement alone would take years to pour. The giant cranes have to have rail to unload onto, and it has to go somewhere. The computers to control it could take years to program. The harbor dredging and shore upgrades could take years. And its not all in parallel. Maybe an off-shore port? With a floating causeway of rail? To do something quickly requires some out-of-the-box thinking.