U.S. ports from Maine to Texas are preparing for a potential shutdown in a week, when the union representing 45,000 dockworkers in that region has threatened to strike starting Oct. 1. Photo via Getty Images

The chief executive over Georgia's two booming seaports said Tuesday that a strike next week by dockworkers across the U.S. East and Gulf coasts appears likely, though he's hopeful the resulting shutdown would last only a few days.

“We should probably expect there to be a work stoppage and we shouldn’t get surprised if there is one," Griff Lynch, CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority, told The Associated Press in an interview. "The question is: How long?”

U.S. ports from Maine to Texas are preparing for a potential shutdown in a week, when the union representing 45,000 dockworkers in that region has threatened to strike starting Oct. 1. That's when the contract expires between the International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents the ports. Negotiations on a new contract halted in June.

A strike would shut down 36 ports that handle roughly half the nations' cargo from ships. Lynch oversees two of the busiest in Georgia. The Port of Savannah ranks No. 4 in the U.S. for container cargo that includes retail goods ranging from consumer electronics to frozen chickens. The Port of Brunswick is America's second-busiest for automobiles.

Lynch said he's holding out hope that a strike can be averted, though he added: “The stark reality is they are not talking right now." Represented by the maritime alliance, the Georgia Ports Authority has no direct role in negotiating.

As for how long a strike might last, “no one really knows for sure,” said Lynch, Georgia's top ports executive since 2016 and a three-decade veteran of the maritime industry. “I would think we should expect four to five days, and hopefully not beyond that.”

Businesses have been preparing for a potential strike for months, importing extra inventory to fill their warehouses. Lynch said that's one reason container volumes in Savannah increased 13.7% in July and August compared to the same period a year ago.

Georgia dockworkers are putting in extra hours trying to ensure ships get unloaded and return to sea before next Tuesday's deadline. Truck gates at the Port of Savannah, normally closed on Sundays, will be open throughout this weekend.

At the Georgia Ports Authority's monthly board meeting Tuesday, Lynch praised the roughly 2,000 union workers responsible for loading and unloading ships in Savannah and Brunswick, saying “they have done great work” ahead of a possible strike. He said the ports would keep operating until the last minute.

“We’re seeing phenomenal productivity out of them right now," he said. "You wouldn’t know this was going to happen if you hadn’t been told.”

There hasn't been a national longshoremen’s strike in the U.S. since 1977. Experts say a strike of even a few weeks probably wouldn't result in any major shortages of retail goods, though it would still cause disruptions as shippers reroute cargo to West Coast ports. Lynch and other experts say every day of a port strike could take up to a week to clear up once union workers return to their jobs.

A prolonged strike would almost certainly hurt the U.S. economy.

The maritime alliance said Monday it has been contacted by the U.S. Labor Department and is open to working with federal mediators. The union's president, Harold Daggett, said in a statement his members are ready to strike over what he called an unacceptable “low-ball wage package.”

“We’re hopeful that they’ll get it worked out," said Kent Fountain, the Georgia Ports Authority's board chairman. “But if not, we’re going to do everything we can to make it as seamless as possible and as easy as it could possibly be on our customers and team members.”

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DOE proposes cutting $1.2 billion in funding for hydrogen hub

funding cuts

The U.S. Department of Energy has proposed cutting $1.2 billion in funding for the HyVelocity Gulf Coast Hydrogen Hub, a clean energy project backed by AES, Air Liquide, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Mitsubishi Power Americas and Ørsted.

The HyVelocity project, which would produce clean hydrogen, appears on a new list of proposed DOE funding cancellations. The list was obtained by Latitude Media.

As of November, HyVelocity had already received $22 million of the potential $1.2 billion in DOE funding.

Other than the six main corporate backers, supporters of HyVelocity include the Center for Houston’s Future, Houston Advanced Research Center, Port Houston, University of Texas at Austin, Shell, the Texas governor’s office, Texas congressional delegation, and the City of Fort Worth.

Kristine Cone, a spokeswoman for GTI Energy, the hub’s administrator, told EnergyCapital that it hadn’t gotten an update from DOE about the hub’s status.

The list also shows the Magnolia Sequestration Hub in Louisiana, being developed by Occidental Petroleum subsidiary 1PointFive, could lose nearly $19.8 million in federal funding and the subsidiary’s South Texas Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hub on the King Ranch in Kleberg County could lose $50 million. In September, 1Point5 announced the $50 million award for its South Texas hub would be the first installment of up to $500 million in federal funding for the project.

Other possible DOE funding losses for Houston-area companies on the list include:

  • A little over $100 million earmarked for Houston-based BP Carbon Solutions to develop carbon storage projects
  • $100 million earmarked for Dow to produce battery-grade solvents for lithium-ion batteries. Dow operates chemical plants in Deer Park and LaPorte
  • $39 million earmarked for Daikin Comfort Technologies North America to produce energy-efficient heat pumps. The HVAC company operates the Daikin Texas Technology Park in Waller
  • Nearly $6 million earmarked for Houston-based Baker Hughes Energy Transition to reduce methane emissions from flares
  • $3 million earmarked for Spring-based Chevron to explore development of a DAC hub in Northern California
  • Nearly $2.9 million earmarked for Houston-based geothermal energy startup Fervo Energy’s geothermal plant in Utah

Houston ranks No. 99 out of 100 on new report of greenest U.S. cities

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Houstonians may be feeling blue about a new ranking of the greenest cities in the U.S.

Among the country’s 100 largest cities based on population, Houston ranks 99th across 28 key indicators of “green” living in a new study from personal finance website WalletHub. The only city with a lower ranking is Glendale, Arizona. Last year, Houston landed at No. 98 on the WalletHub list.

“‘Green’ living means a choice to engage in cleaner, more sustainable habits in order to preserve the planet as much as possible,” WalletHub says.

Among the study’s ranking factors are the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per capita, the number of “smart energy” policies, and the presence of “green job” programs.

In the study, Houston received an overall score of 35.64 out of 100. WalletHub put its findings into four buckets, with Houston ranked 100th in the environment and transportation categories, 56th in the lifestyle and policy category, and 52nd in the energy sources category.

In the environment category, Houston has two big strikes against it. The metro area ranks among the 10 worst places for ozone pollution (No. 7) and year-round particle pollution (No. 8), according to the American Lung Association’s 2025 list of the most polluted cities.

In the WalletHub study, San Jose, California, earns the honor of being the country’s greenest city. It’s followed by Washington, D.C.; Oakland, California; Irvine, California; and San Francisco.

“There are plenty of things that individuals can do to adopt a green lifestyle, from recycling to sharing rides to installing solar panels on their homes,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in the report. “However, living in one of the greenest cities can make it even easier to care for the environment, due to sustainable laws and policies, access to locally grown produce, and infrastructure that allows residents to use vehicles less often. The greenest cities also are better for your health due to superior air and water quality.”