'All these problems are solvable': Great Lakes shipping fights to cut emissions

A new, cleaner ship points way as US ports in the region are spending millions on upgrades in pursuit of net zeroIt's just after 9.30pm on a Thursday night in late May when a conveyor belt begins dumping 21,000 tons of road salt into the cavernous hull of the MV Mark M Barker at a dock in Cleveland.As the first US-flagged freighter to be built on the Great Lakes in nearly 40 years, the 639ft (195-meter)-long ship - launched in 2022 - is the only vessel of its kind in the region powered by cleaner, "tier four" marine engines that meet the federal Environmental Protection Agency rules governing hydrocarbons and particle matter emissions. Continue reading...