Before Gawley was muzzled from talking to me, he told me the monitors at ANP station could not pick up any data from the cruise ships. But what does that matter? We know them to be horrific polluters even if the wind blows up country.
The EPA did a study that found a cruise ship of 3,500 passengers berthed or anchored emitted the same deadly Sulfur Dioxide as 35,000 idling semi trucks. During the summer season the wind rose for Boston shows a prevailing SW wind that blows directly at Acadia National Park. Carnival Cruise Lines Homeports out of Boston and often sails directly to Bar Harbor. If the ships speed of 23 knots matches a 23 knot SW wind then they will be arriving in Bar Harbor along with a huge cloud of Sulfur Dioxide.
One thing that worsens this is the ship while under way is burning at least 3 times the diesel as it was anchored or berthed. Approximately 100,000 trucks idling 1 gallon per hour. If the wind matches the ship speed then over the course of their 10 hour trip from Boston to Bar Harbor a cloud, 10 times the 100,000 idling trucks, will arrive in Bar Harbor. That is 1 million idling trucks worth of SO2.
The EPA specifies no idling semi trucks should be left on for more than 5 minutes within 1000 feet of a school or population center.
Cruise ships are a major source of air pollution for MDI, ANP and especially Bar Harbor.
It is always good to see a citizen questioning the BS emanating from the powers that be. Despite all the legalistic maneuvering prompted less by facts than by greed cruise ships are a crystal clear example of a polluting industry that needs to be brought under control. While arguments can be made in support of some polluting industries in that they provide some form of essential services (power generation, etc) I can think of no compelling reason for continue tolerance of these polluting behemoths. I saw a bumper sticker recently that said, "The only good cruise ship is a sunken cruise ship!" Seemed like a workable idea to me. There are harbors round the world that would greatly benefit from having a few sunken cruise ships as breakwaters.
I think it important to acknowledge that the bulk of the air pollution in and around Acadia has nothing whatsoever to do with the Park -we are down wind from major urban centers such as Boston and New York and from major polluting industries in the Ohio River valley. MDI could adopt a horse-and-buggy-only rule and we would still suffer from air quality issues. This article would have benefited from a bit more homework.
Nobody knows that for a fact because no testing has ever been done. Air monitors in the park measure only parkland and not even all of it. Nevertheless, do you support all that pollution to go downwind into Lamoine, Hancock and up northern Maine, like it's okay for all that pollution from the Midwest to pollute MDI? We are all part of the same problem worldwide ...
Lincoln, I think that if you dug in a bit further you would find that there actually HAS been a lot of testing. I often appreciate your newsletter's efforts to bring up difficult subjects, but this particular article is both silly and damaging. Acadia is NOT responsible for the air pollution and the NPS cannot stop Cruise ships or control cars outside of the park. Every time Acadia tries to limit car use in the park, local businesses scream bloody murder. In any case Acadia certainly has no authority over power plants and autos to the west/southwest of us. NPS employees have been expressing real concern -based on data, not speculation-abut the impact of air pollution on both the Park's natural resources and the surrounding area for decades.
Look at the map. Only two places in New England got that rating. You mean to say the SW pollution spared all the places in Massachusetts? I think you’re mouthing NPS propaganda which has been out there for decades. Can’ believe anyone would argue that cruise ships have no impact on the air we breathe.
Remote lakes in Maine with no significant development anywhere near them have elevated mercury levels, carried here by the jet stream from coal power plants in the rust belt.
Air pollution in the park is largely out of our control (of course the bumper to bumper traffic on ocean drive does not help)
Your starting and ending points are a misreading of the article. The rest of your comment would benefit from documentation verifying your assertions.
The environmental crisis is world wide. The solutions start right here with each of us. Finger pointing at others while failing to take the steps we can - politically and materially - is worse than irresponsible, it is unethical. It is demoralizing in that it incites people to do nothing. It is complicit in that it worsens the situation.
Ah,,I can see you need to do a little more homework too. Just like everyone else including me.
I think you may find that the air monitoring station on McFarland Hill is exactly NE of Boston. It has recorded some of the worst ozone in the US. I wonder what the levels have been in the past few years? Also, were those record years when cruise ships were operating?
Two thoughts on the points you raise in today’s letter. One: the deteriorating environmental conditions at our national parks reflects the preference of lawmakers to create “things” — parks, armies, malls, social services…you name it — but not maintain them. Maintenance is not “news” or “progress.”
Two: I hope the new status of Francis Perkins’s home will spark more interest and appreciation in her life and work. It deserves to be as celebrated as FDR’s Campobello.
Thank for this important recognition of the direct harm we all experience from the downwind pollution from the midwest fossil fuel burning. There may be little we can do directly about that serious pollution, but we can certainly change our acceptance of that created by cruise ships and increasing vehicular traffic on our island.
"Local organizations like the FOA and College of the Atlantic, which should be natural advocates to fight polluters, have shown counter-intuitive impulses..."
The town council is "greenwashing."
Counter-intuitive impulses? Greenwashing?
You are too kind.
FOA has abandoned it's stated purpose.
COA has violated it's stated ethos.
The town council ... where to start?
It's a tragedy.
Our fore-parents were expelled from Eden for eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Knowledge is worth the sacrifice. Knowing stuff is good. But needs to be acted on. On MDI Eden itself is being sacrificed to willful ignorance and business as usual.
Lin, It seems to often be the case that when we operate as a group of humans we pit ourselves against Nature. We disconnect. Most often for economic reasons. In the case of the cruise ships, the golden bull was for a big fat economic lie. Seven years ago no one said a word against cruise ships but now we know the dark side of them. We are no longer ignorant. I thank the Founding Fathers for giving the little guy the right to Home Rule. We may very well have taken back our town from a multi billion dollar industry. There are many ports around the world watching Bar Harbor take control of its destiny. Every one of these ports has the same complaints as Bar Harbor. Cruise ships have been found to be irresponsible tourism.
Thanks for all your inspirational activism. You speak from the soul.
I think it was Jefferson who said : “The cost of Democracy is eternal vigilance.”
Before Gawley was muzzled from talking to me, he told me the monitors at ANP station could not pick up any data from the cruise ships. But what does that matter? We know them to be horrific polluters even if the wind blows up country.
The EPA did a study that found a cruise ship of 3,500 passengers berthed or anchored emitted the same deadly Sulfur Dioxide as 35,000 idling semi trucks. During the summer season the wind rose for Boston shows a prevailing SW wind that blows directly at Acadia National Park. Carnival Cruise Lines Homeports out of Boston and often sails directly to Bar Harbor. If the ships speed of 23 knots matches a 23 knot SW wind then they will be arriving in Bar Harbor along with a huge cloud of Sulfur Dioxide.
One thing that worsens this is the ship while under way is burning at least 3 times the diesel as it was anchored or berthed. Approximately 100,000 trucks idling 1 gallon per hour. If the wind matches the ship speed then over the course of their 10 hour trip from Boston to Bar Harbor a cloud, 10 times the 100,000 idling trucks, will arrive in Bar Harbor. That is 1 million idling trucks worth of SO2.
The EPA specifies no idling semi trucks should be left on for more than 5 minutes within 1000 feet of a school or population center.
Cruise ships are a major source of air pollution for MDI, ANP and especially Bar Harbor.
It is always good to see a citizen questioning the BS emanating from the powers that be. Despite all the legalistic maneuvering prompted less by facts than by greed cruise ships are a crystal clear example of a polluting industry that needs to be brought under control. While arguments can be made in support of some polluting industries in that they provide some form of essential services (power generation, etc) I can think of no compelling reason for continue tolerance of these polluting behemoths. I saw a bumper sticker recently that said, "The only good cruise ship is a sunken cruise ship!" Seemed like a workable idea to me. There are harbors round the world that would greatly benefit from having a few sunken cruise ships as breakwaters.
I think it important to acknowledge that the bulk of the air pollution in and around Acadia has nothing whatsoever to do with the Park -we are down wind from major urban centers such as Boston and New York and from major polluting industries in the Ohio River valley. MDI could adopt a horse-and-buggy-only rule and we would still suffer from air quality issues. This article would have benefited from a bit more homework.
Nobody knows that for a fact because no testing has ever been done. Air monitors in the park measure only parkland and not even all of it. Nevertheless, do you support all that pollution to go downwind into Lamoine, Hancock and up northern Maine, like it's okay for all that pollution from the Midwest to pollute MDI? We are all part of the same problem worldwide ...
Lincoln, I think that if you dug in a bit further you would find that there actually HAS been a lot of testing. I often appreciate your newsletter's efforts to bring up difficult subjects, but this particular article is both silly and damaging. Acadia is NOT responsible for the air pollution and the NPS cannot stop Cruise ships or control cars outside of the park. Every time Acadia tries to limit car use in the park, local businesses scream bloody murder. In any case Acadia certainly has no authority over power plants and autos to the west/southwest of us. NPS employees have been expressing real concern -based on data, not speculation-abut the impact of air pollution on both the Park's natural resources and the surrounding area for decades.
Look at the map. Only two places in New England got that rating. You mean to say the SW pollution spared all the places in Massachusetts? I think you’re mouthing NPS propaganda which has been out there for decades. Can’ believe anyone would argue that cruise ships have no impact on the air we breathe.
Remote lakes in Maine with no significant development anywhere near them have elevated mercury levels, carried here by the jet stream from coal power plants in the rust belt.
Air pollution in the park is largely out of our control (of course the bumper to bumper traffic on ocean drive does not help)
John Anderson.
Your starting and ending points are a misreading of the article. The rest of your comment would benefit from documentation verifying your assertions.
The environmental crisis is world wide. The solutions start right here with each of us. Finger pointing at others while failing to take the steps we can - politically and materially - is worse than irresponsible, it is unethical. It is demoralizing in that it incites people to do nothing. It is complicit in that it worsens the situation.
Ah,,I can see you need to do a little more homework too. Just like everyone else including me.
I think you may find that the air monitoring station on McFarland Hill is exactly NE of Boston. It has recorded some of the worst ozone in the US. I wonder what the levels have been in the past few years? Also, were those record years when cruise ships were operating?
Two thoughts on the points you raise in today’s letter. One: the deteriorating environmental conditions at our national parks reflects the preference of lawmakers to create “things” — parks, armies, malls, social services…you name it — but not maintain them. Maintenance is not “news” or “progress.”
Two: I hope the new status of Francis Perkins’s home will spark more interest and appreciation in her life and work. It deserves to be as celebrated as FDR’s Campobello.
Thank for this important recognition of the direct harm we all experience from the downwind pollution from the midwest fossil fuel burning. There may be little we can do directly about that serious pollution, but we can certainly change our acceptance of that created by cruise ships and increasing vehicular traffic on our island.
Shame on FOA and COA!
"Local organizations like the FOA and College of the Atlantic, which should be natural advocates to fight polluters, have shown counter-intuitive impulses..."
The town council is "greenwashing."
Counter-intuitive impulses? Greenwashing?
You are too kind.
FOA has abandoned it's stated purpose.
COA has violated it's stated ethos.
The town council ... where to start?
It's a tragedy.
Our fore-parents were expelled from Eden for eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Knowledge is worth the sacrifice. Knowing stuff is good. But needs to be acted on. On MDI Eden itself is being sacrificed to willful ignorance and business as usual.
Lin, It seems to often be the case that when we operate as a group of humans we pit ourselves against Nature. We disconnect. Most often for economic reasons. In the case of the cruise ships, the golden bull was for a big fat economic lie. Seven years ago no one said a word against cruise ships but now we know the dark side of them. We are no longer ignorant. I thank the Founding Fathers for giving the little guy the right to Home Rule. We may very well have taken back our town from a multi billion dollar industry. There are many ports around the world watching Bar Harbor take control of its destiny. Every one of these ports has the same complaints as Bar Harbor. Cruise ships have been found to be irresponsible tourism.
Thanks for all your inspirational activism. You speak from the soul.
I think it was Jefferson who said : “The cost of Democracy is eternal vigilance.”