Today – Earth Day – is special because our maritime law firm works in a specialized area of the law. Everything we handle is related to the world’s oceans and seas. Earlier today, our superstar legal intern, Caitlin Burke, wrote an excellent article entitled Earth Day – Spotlight on Cruising – A Dirty Business.
We know that
Caitlin Burke returns as a guest blogger today to discuss environmental issues and the cruise industry. We have written many articles about cruise ships and the problem with pollution.
Black water, gray water, oily bilge water, sewage, bunker fuel, smokestack exhaust . . . all discharging and billowing out of cruise ships and into
On Friday, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) passed a regulation requiring cruise ships, tankers and cargo ships to switch to low-sulfur fuel when they operate within 230 miles of the U.S. and Canada.
As reported in the Houston Chronicle, the new regulations should cut emissions linked to thousands of illnesses and premature deaths each year, according
The cruise industry is preparing to fight against clean air regulations which will protect the U.S. and Canada from the nasty bunker fuels burned by hundreds of cruise ships.
Reuters reports that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is proposing a plan to create a buffer zone around the U.S. and Canada which will require low emissions from cruise ships.
Newspapers in Alaska are reporting that cruise lines are trying to avoid Alaska’s strict waste water laws.
The Juneau Empire reports that the cruise industry is complaining to lawmakers in Alaska that the limits on ammonia are too strict. The cruise industry’s "Alaska Cruise Association" – comprised of Miami based cruise lines – is again posturing to reposition its
There is an interesting article today in the Juneau Empire "Legislators Debate Removal of Cruise Panel Member Cohen – Cruise Ally Defends Removal of Industry Foe."
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The article points out that a Republican legislator, Craig Johnson (photo left), is defending the removal of waste water scientist Gershon Cohen (photo below) from a cruise ship science advisory panel at the insistence of
Newspapers in Alaska are reporting that the cruise industry is behind the sudden removal of a highly qualified green water scientist from an advisory council on cruise ship waste water discharge.
In December 2009, the Alaskan Department of Environmental Conservation ("DEC") invited environmental scientist Gershon Cohen to join the state’s cruise ship waste water treatment science panel. The advisory panel has 11 members, with experts in
A report entitled "Getting a Grip on Cruise Pollution" released today by the Friends of the Earth (FOE) organization concludes that the billions of dollars earned by the cruise industry 
each year comes at a significant cost to our nation’s air and water.
The report was researched and authored by Ross Klein, a Professor
U.K. ‘s Mail Online has an informative article in its Sunday edition today addressing the use of bunker fuels by cruise ships and other large shipping vessels entitled "How 16 Ships Create As Much Pollution As All The Cars In The World."
I wrote about the cruise industry’s use of bunker fuels in a blog