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[EXTERNAL] Cap and Reduce Cruise Sailings to Reach Zero Emissions
Jordan Van Voast <noreply@adv.actionnetwork.org>
Mon 1/22/2024 4:00 PM
To: Commission-Public-Records <commission-public-records@portseattle.org>
WARNING: External email. Links or aachments may be unsafe.
Commission_Testimony Port Meeting,
Port of Seattle Commissioners and staff,
In light of cruise's multiple, well-documented harmful effects, I urge the Port of Seattle to cap the
number of 2024 season sailings and passengers at or below 2019 levels, reducing these
numbers every year until the industry no longer pollutes the oceans and air and no longer emits
climate-changing greenhouse gases.
To do this, the Port of Seattle should quantify greenhouse gases emitted by cruise ships along
the entire route from Seattle to Alaska. To get the true picture of our local cruise sector, the
greenhouse gases that result from the flights that cruise passengers take to get to Seattle and
home again must also be included. For transparency, these numbers should be made public
annually.
Using 2024 as a baseline, we call on the Port to reduce GHG emissions from cruise in alignment
with the schedule in the proposed Clean Shipping Act of 2023:
20% by 2027
45% by 2030
80% by 2035
100% by 2040
If these reductions cannot be achieved through zero- or low-emissions fuels, then they must be
achieved through a reduction in the number of sailings.
We cannot wait decades for a voluntary corridor captained by the same industry that's poisoning
our air and water. We cannot rely on goals that lack benchmarks or realistic ways to achieve
actual reductions. We cannot focus on accounting tricks like net zero.
We need to cap and annually reduce the number of cruise sailings in order to reach zero
emissions and zero toxic discharges by 2040.
Jordan Van Voast
jordanvvvv@gmail.com
Seattle, Washington 98144
