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closed weeks in advance of the 2008 Summer Olympics to cut back on pollution during
that competition.
The United Nations Environment Programme helped broker that compromise with
Vancouver in its assignment to “green” the games. Amy Frankel, head of the UNEP office
in Washington, said it was a good story. “There were no unwanted air emissions, which
made sense for the environment, and the electricity should have cost less, which made
sense for the bottom line.”
Responding to the growing evidence of air pollution from cruise ships and large marine
vessels, the Environmental Protection Agency passed a new rule that took effect in August
2012, to establish a 200-mile buffer zone around the coasts of the United States, including
Alaska and the main Hawaiian Islands. Within that zone, which was initially adopted by
the International Maritime Organization, these ships are required to burn cleaner fuel to
reduce their nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides that pollute the air. The EPA estimates that
a cruise ship carrying 2,000 passengers on the open sea will pollute the air with the same
amount of sulfur dioxide as 31.1 million automobiles every day. The new rule will prevent
as many as 31,000 premature deaths every year, according to the EPA.
The cruise industry opposed the new standards, saying it would drive up fuel costs by 40
percent. Terry Dale of the cruise trade group said that cruise lines were already investing
millions to improve air emissions with new exhaust scrubbers, some using seawater as well
as equipping ships to plug into electric outlets while in port, which has all been voluntary.
The industry will continue fighting mandatory national pollution standards and laws.
Besides renewing the national debate over cruise ship pollution, Congress also passed
a law in 2010 requiring cruise ships that dock in the United States to tighten their security
for passengers through the entire journey. After rising reports of mysterious deaths and in-
juries on board cruise ships, Congress mandated higher guardrails, and peepholes on cab-
in doors, on the ships and ordered that all crimes onboard be reported to the FBI. It was a
rare instance in which cruise lines were held responsible under American laws for behavi-
or in international waters rather than under those of one of the countries where the ships
are registered.
Business analysts warn that things could be getting out of hand. In a recent assessment
Lloyds Cruise International said that the industry's “strategy of gigantism” risked under-
mining the cruise experience on and off the ship. The report said that megaships “with
5,400 passengers may cut the operating cost per passenger but is too large for most ports,
and arguably too sizeable to provide a personal experience or to offer either a tranquil or
an adventurous holiday.”
Little of this criticism leaks out. The cruise industry watches its reputation carefully
with multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns, a ubiquitous presence on the Internet and
underwriting the expenses of the travel press who are largely mute about the effect of the
industry on the environment or the ports they visit.
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