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Vancouver Sun gets it right about new Canadian cruise pollution regulations
Congrats to Barbara Yaffe for informatively conveying a perspective
that goes against the tide of so many 'industry-placed' news pieces. Those big cruise ships are also big polluters Barbara Yaffe Vancouver Sun Saturday, May 12, 2007 Those sparkling white behemoths that each year at this time begin sidling up to Coal Harbour piers bring far more than tourists and their cash. Cruise ships are purveyors of some pretty putrid pollution and, in an age of all things green, are posing a stiff political challenge for government. This week, Environment Minister John Baird and Transportation Minister Lawrence Cannon -- keen to convince Canadians the Harper government has got on board the eco-program -- announced changes to the Canada Shipping Act. Boasted the cabinet ministers, the changes are aimed at "making Canada a leader in the prevention of marine pollution." In fact, the new regulations aren't as proactive as they sound. They merely try to bring Canada in line with still-optional provisions of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. The announcement was a component of the Harper government's National Water Strategy, first unveiled as part of the 2007 budget, according to a federal press release. Human beings, of course, tend to be a bit lax about what they cannot see. And since ships operating at sea, both of the cruise and cargo variety, are mostly out of sight and mind, they've been operating with relative impunity -- in Canada, at least -- spewing and belching substances and chemicals you don't want to know about. Governments wish they didn't have to know about this stuff, either. After all, who wants to offend an industry that during the tourist season daily deposits thousands of well-heeled consumers on one's doorstep? The cruise industry is worth $500 million annually to B.C. It's the second-largest generator of jobs and economic output at Vancouver's port. So perhaps it isn't surprising that B.C. has a reputation for casual neglect when it comes to policing cruise ships, in contrast to both Washington State and Alaska. Indeed, it's the federal government, not the province, that does the policing around provincial waters. Alaska's state government, meanwhile, has instituted for the 2007 season a rigorous enforcement regime that calls for the stationing of a marine engineer on every ship operating in Alaskan waters. The engineer will monitor waste-treatment practices and scrutinize discharges. Such vigilance is clearly warranted. Ross Klein, a sociology prof at Memorial University in Newfoundland, has made a side career of critiquing the industry from his perch in St. John's. My home printer ran out of paper running off a list Klein has compiled of known pollution and environmental violations committed by cruise ships going back to 1992. The list, by the way, was devoid of Canadian incidents, which has led Klein to question Canadian monitoring and enforcement standards (www.cruisejunkie.com/envirofines). Ships on the miscreant list were found guilty of shocking stuff: Damaging delicate reefs; bumping into whales; dumping raw sewage straight into an Orca habitat area; discharging oil and diesel fuel. In several recorded cases, crew members just dropped plastic bags of garbage from the side of ships or allowed oil-based paint to spill into ports. So will the Harper government's new regulations force ships to start minding their Ps and Qs in Canadian waters? One B.C.-based environment group, Travel Just, declares that the newly announced regulations deserve "a big poopie award." Howard Breen, the group's spokesman, says in a news release that the federal initiative constitutes "a greenwash of oceanic magnitude." He insists the regulations aren't nearly tough enough and lack specific harsh penalties and adequate enforcement measures. Breen cites the need for a beefed-up inspection regime by Transport Canada by way of independent observers to inspect vessels plying West Coast waters. He also wants a system of waste-compliance monitoring through installation of electronic transponders on cruise ships. Breen points out that B.C. has highly sensitive marine ecosystems and 20 endangered coastal species that stand to be negatively affected by cruise ship pollution. A pursuit such as the cruise ship industry might have been environmentally overlooked in the past, but these days no sector can escape scrutiny. Not even one that is single-mindedly devoted to fun, frolic and escape from the real world. C The Vancouver Sun 2007 http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/c...9d0f3a-8a3a-4b c6-9bab-430889d0c2d3 |
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