Oceans Under Threat • Protect Our Oceans

Oceans

The world’s oceans support countless forms of life. Unfortunately, oceans and the tens of millions of people who live near them are under threat from oil spills, air pollution, sewage releases, industrial ocean fish farming, and unnatural ocean noise. Friends of the Earth has won regional, national and international limits on air, water and oil pollution from cruise ships, cargo ships, oil tankers, ferries and recreational water craft. We were instrumental in achieving the establishment of air pollution limits for ships near the coasts of the U.S. and Canada, which prohibit the use of dirty bunker fuel — unless alternative compliance methods are employed, such as shorepower or other pollution reduction technologies.
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Impact Stories See All
Tackling Air Pollution in Coastal Communities
Tackling Air Pollution in Coastal Communities

Friends of the Earth’s oceans team is focused on safeguarding public health and our oceans by calling for shore power — a technology that connects docked ocean vessels to the electric grid, allowing ships to turn off their diesel engines when not at sea.

Protecting the Arctic from Drilling 
Protecting the Arctic from Drilling 

When Donald Trump approved an offshore drilling project off the coast of Alaska in 2018, Friends of the Earth jumped into action. Represented by Earthjustice, we brought a lawsuit in federal court with four other environmental organizations to challenge the project’s approval. And, two years later, we won.  

Stopping Pebble Mine and Saving Alaska’s Wild Salmon
Stopping Pebble Mine and Saving Alaska’s Wild Salmon

A years-long battle over a proposed mine in Alaska ended when a coalition that included Friends of the Earth successfully pushed the US Army Corps of Engineers to deny Pebble Mine a permit to operate in Bristol Bay,  killing the project! 

Saving California’s Coastline
Saving California’s Coastline

Hundreds of Friends of the Earth members called their state legislators, urging them to support these important bills, and we went to Sacramento to march and voice our strong opposition to Zinke’s plan.

Cutting Off an Industrial Mine’s Financing
Cutting Off an Industrial Mine’s Financing

Pebble Mine is a clear environmental disaster—yet its parent company found a financier for the project in First Quantum Minerals. To stop this project, Friends of the Earth has worked  to hit them where it hurts: their financial backing.

Keeping Puget Sound Clean
Keeping Puget Sound Clean

Five years of environmental activism will clean the state’s waterways, protect public health, and boost local economy. This is a major win for both Washington and our planet.

Banning Industrial Ocean Fish Farming in Washington state
Banning Industrial Ocean Fish Farming in Washington state

In early March 2018, Washington’s state legislature passed House Bill 2957—a bill that bans all future industrial net pen operations by 2022. This bill should send a message to the aquaculture industry that its time is up.

Latest News See All
Analysis: Vacationers Generate 8 Times More Carbon on a Cruise Ship than on Land

Today Friends of the Earth released new data that shows cruise goers emit eight times the amount of carbon dioxide emissions per day than a land-based vacationer.

Honoring the Legacy of Verner Wilson III

We have lost a bright light in our movement, and we will endeavor to continue Verner’s work to elevate Indigenous voices.

Friends of the Earth Denounces Massive, Unlawful Gulf Lease Sale

Today, the Biden Administration offered 73.3 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing despite widespread opposition from Gulf community and national environmental groups.

Latest Blog Posts See All
60,000 activists tell JPMorgan Chase: Denounce, divest and defund Formosa Plastics’ toxic and racist petrochemical complex  
60,000 activists tell JPMorgan Chase: Denounce, divest and defund Formosa Plastics’ toxic and racist petrochemical complex  

Plastic pollution poses a major threat to the health of our oceans, waterways and communities. Unsurprisingly, the same fossil fuel companies driving our global climate crisis are also expanding harmful petrochemical production throughout the United States, turning their own toxic waste into products they can profit off of. These facilities…

Ports Need to Take Advantage of Inflation and Infrastructure Funding
Ports Need to Take Advantage of Inflation and Infrastructure Funding

Ports serve as crucial nodes in the global trade network. Transportation is the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Although medium- and heavy-duty trucks used at ports and along freight corridors account for about only Read More

The Climate & Agriculture provisions of the IRA
The Climate & Agriculture provisions of the IRA

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is many things at once. The good and the bad all need to be considered together.

Resources See All
  • Cruising Vs Land Vacationing: An Analysis
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  • Finance Campaigning to Block Petrochemicals & Plastics and Create Safe Communities
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  • Denounce – Divest – Defund Formosa Plastics’ “Sunshine Project”
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