Tuesday night saw the end of two years of negotiations between the Port of Oakland, environmentalists, truckers and West Oakland residents, with a vote to reduce toxic emissions from trucks serving the busy shipping center.

The long road leading to cleaner air in West Oakland was stretched just a little farther Tuesday night, as Port of Oakland commissioners postponed voting on a controversial new program to control diesel pollution from thousands of trucks serving the port.

West Oakland's high rates of childhood asthma and lifelong illnesses, such as cancer, are linked to exhaust from truck and international ship traffic through the port.

Diesel pollution from trucks is estimated to make up only four percent of West Oakland's overall toxic burden. A much larger percentage has been attributed to the international shipping companies that rent the ports -- yet attempts to impose fees to pay for pollution controls have been sidetracked by global trade regulations and opposition by the state of California and even special interest groups in Oakland and the Bay Area.

Many West Oaklanders feel that significant environmental improvements are still a long way off.

"There's a lot of talk. People talk about how 'this needs to be done, we're going to do this'" said Shirley Burnell, a community activist and co-director of West Oakland ACORN, "but still things are being pushed out. Instead of doing something today or tomorrow or next week we're still talking years."