January 1, 1970
The so-called "Report Card" released by Friends of the Earth (FOE) on cruise lines' environmental performance is "not based on science, law or the facts but rather FOE's own arbitrary and flawed criteria," according to a statement released by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).
"The grades in the report card clearly ignore the fact that our cruise lines comply with and in most cases exceed all applicable environmental regulations set by the federal government and other regulatory bodies around the world," CLIA said. "Regulatory compliance is not based on meeting Friends of the Earth's biased, unscientific interpretation of what the rules should be."
The report card gave failing grades to most of the ships for not plugging into shore power. As CLIA points out, this technology is only available at five berths in North America. "To fail a ship for not using port-side technology that is not even available is emblematic of FOE's tactics and further discredits this so-called report card," CLIA said.
CLIA goes on to note that the ships treat wastewater to national clean water standards and that the water pollution standards FOE used to grade "water quality compliance" are not standards at all.
"It is regrettable that FOE authors such misinformation when in fact this industry has made tremendous progress in the past several years in advancing technology and developing programs that go a long way in protecting the environment."