It seems that over the last several years, South Carolina has been so afraid of losing business that we have been willing to sell our soul for fear of loss of commerce. In Charleston in particular that should not be true.
It doesn't matter what part of the country I am visiting, whenever I say that I am from Charleston, I am told by someone who has just visited, how beautiful our city is, how much they love it, how a family member loved it so much they moved here, and on and on go the accolades.
So why should we compromise the beauty of our city by not laying down rules for the cruise ships that profit from stopping by?
This is a question that needs to be addressed by Charleston City Council, and in fact, is an important issue in the upcoming election.
It is possible to welcome cruise ships into our harbor while keeping pollution out. And we have a commodity -- our beautiful city -- that tourists want to enjoy.
So listen to what the candidates for City Council have to say about regulating cruise ships. Are they afraid to insist that ships plug in to onshore electrical power, reducing carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by over 90 percent, or will they stand up for the integrity of our city and its residents?
Find out who's running in your district, and find out whether they plan on working with the cruise ship industry to keep Charleston a desirable destination, or whether their policy is to not "make waves" at the expense of our City's future.
You can find out which district you are in at SC Votes.
This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.
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