Bluewater Network Milestones
EI Staff
March, 2008
Earth Island News
Bluewater Network
The
shadow of the September 11 terrorist attacks follows us all into the
New Year. Yet despite the horror of those events, Bluewater Network can
mark 2001 as another year of progress. Bluewater has succeeded in
increasing people’s awareness of the environmental impacts of their
actions, helped corporations consider the long-term environmental
effects of their business practices and brought attention to the lack
of regulation of large ship emissions and waste.
Here are some of our recent victories:
Bluewater
proudly co-sponsored the opening of the nation’s first retail biodiesel
station, making this renewable fuel available to diesel car and truck
drivers for both commercial use and individual consumption.
Bluewater sponsored precedent-setting legislation in the
California Assembly to address greenhouse-gas emissions from
California’s transportation sector. AB 1058, the first bill of its kind
in the nation, will require the California Air Resources Board to
develop a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from passenger cars.
The bill has passed the Transportation and Appropriations Committees
and is headed for a floor vote.
Bluewater brought the designers of the Solar Sailor, the
world’s first hybrid solar-electric and wind-powered ferry, to the Bay
Area to meet with ferry operators, public officials and transit
agencies. The San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority agreed to
evaluate the Solar Sailor as part of its alternative fuels study for
the Bay Area’s fast-ferry system.
Bluewater spearheaded a coalition to foster the production of
biomass ethanol in California, a renewable fuel alternative with
exceptional environmental benefits. Based on the coalition’s advocacy,
the California Energy Commission plans to offer $25 million in
incentives to biomass ethanol producers.
A Bluewater Network lawsuit forced the National Park Service
(NPS) to agree to close all national parks to personal watercraft (PWC)
by 2002, unless the craft can be proven not to harm wildlife and the
environment. The suit resulted from a partial NPS ban, which left 21
parks vulnerable to PWC damage. In addition, the NPS finalized
regulations that will phase out recreational snowmobile activity in
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks by winter 2003/2004.
As a result of another Bluewater lawsuit, the EPA must now
reduce the tremendous levels of smog, airborne particles and toxics
emitted by container ships, oil tankers and cruise ships by March 31,
2002.
