Business & Professional Ethics 7th Edition by Leonard Brooks,Paul Dunn

Exercise 19

Cruise ships are, in essence, floating small towns. They carry thousands of passengers on ships that often stand 13 decks tall. The cruise ship industry that travels from Washington State to Alaska pumps billions of dollars into the economies of many American and Canadian port cities. Each time a ship docks at Seattle its pours $1.7 million into the local economy, $2 million into the Greater Vancouver economy, and $1 billion annually into Victoria's tourism sector.
Cruise ships, which normally carry 3,000 passengers and crew, generate enormous amounts of pollution. A typical cruise ship produces approximately 170,000 gallons of gray water (the water from showers, sinks, swimming pools, dishwashing, and laundry), 21,000 gallons of sewage, 6,400 gallons of bilge water, and 1 ton of solid waste per day. However, there are no consistent regulations concerning pollution caused by cruise ships. For example, the states of Washington and Alaska have rules about discharging gray water, but the province of British Columbia (B.C.) does not. Therefore, cruise ships tend to release their untreated gray water as they pass through the Straits of Juan de Fuca. According to Beatrice Olivastri, CEO of Friends of the Earth Canada, "Cruise ship companies are taking advantage of Canada's weaker laws on sewage discharge to save money. It is bizarre that B.C. residents should bear the burden of cruise ship pollution from well-heeled tourists."
In order to reduce air pollution, some cities, including Juneau, Seattle, and Vancouver, allow cruise ships to connect to the local power grid when in port. The estimated daily pollution generated by a 3,000- passenger ship burning bunker fuel is the equivalent of 12,000 cars. Beginning in 2012, new requirements, enacted in both the United States and Canada, will force container ships, oil tankers, and large cruise ships to reduce their bunker fuel air pollution. Currently, cruise ships sailing from Seattle to Alaska have a sulfur content that averages 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent in the bunker fuel that is burned. The allowable level is to drop to 1 percent in 2012 and then to 0.1 percent in 2015. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that the improved air quality resulting from these new regulations will save as many as 14,000 lives each year. But these new standards are costly. Industry officials estimate that this will cost the Alaskan cruise lines $100 million annually. This equates to an additional $100 per passenger charge for a seven-day cruise. By way of comparison, a $50 head tax imposed by Alaska has been blamed for a 142,000 decrease in passenger travel in 2010
How much should port cities compromise on pollution standards in order to generate tourism?