Bipartisan Legislation Aims to Reduce Ocean Shipping Pollution and Decarbonize Maritime Industry

Strategic Insights -

Congress has reintroduced the International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at reducing harmful pollution from the global shipping industry. Led by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Alex Padilla, and Representatives Doris Matsui and Kevin Mullin, the legislation seeks to decarbonize the maritime shipping industry, prevent the release of criteria air pollutants in port communities, and revitalize the U.S. shipping industry.

The bill would impose a pollution fee on the largest marine vessels offloading cargo at U.S. ports, driving industry-wide decarbonization efforts and incentivizing the use and development of cleaner maritime fuels. It would also provide critical funding for modernizing the Jones Act fleet with low-carbon vessels, revitalizing and electrifying U.S. shipbuilding, and addressing pollutants in America's port communities, along our coasts, and in our oceans.

Key Takeaways:

  • The global shipping industry emits approximately one billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, roughly three percent of total anthropogenic global-warming carbon-dioxide emissions.
  • Maritime shipping is the largest source of traded goods, both for the U.S. and globally.
  • Implementing a pollution fee would address a loophole where marine shipping vessels rarely pay fuel taxes.
  • The bill would impose a $150 per ton fee on the carbon emissions of fuel burned on an inbound trip, as well as fees for nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particle pollution.
  • The fees would apply only to those ships with 5,000 gross tonnage or more, excluding most of the domestic industry.
  • The bill has been endorsed by various environmental organizations, including EV Maritime, Friends of the Earth, and the Sierra Club.
  • The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has put forward a global carbon price on shipping emissions, and this legislation would reinforce that work.

Statistics:

  • Global shipping industry emit approximately one billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
  • Maritime shipping is responsible for roughly three percent of total anthropogenic global-warming carbon-dioxide emissions.
  • The global shipping industry could more than double between 2018 and 2050 without action.
  • Maritime shipping is the largest source of traded goods, with a trade deficit approaching $1.2 trillion in 2024.
  • The bill proposes a $150 per ton fee on carbon emissions, as well as fees for nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and particle pollution.

Sources:

  • Kevin Mullin, "Mullin, Matsui, Whitehouse, Padilla Reintroduce Legislation to Reduce Ocean Shipping Pollution, Modernize Maritime Industry"
  • International Maritime Organization, "2020 GHG Study"
  • Various news outlets reporting on the reintroduction of the International Maritime Pollution Accountability Act.