Key West locals protest huge cruise ships, decry environmental damage

Cruise passengers debarking in Key West recently faced another Saturday protest from locals decrying the environmental damage done by the oversized vessels.

The Key West Committee for Safer, Cleaner Ships organized a rally against three mega-cruise ships much larger than the 1,500-person-vessel limits city voters set through 2020 ballot referendums.

Those new rules were undone legislatively with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature last year. New legislation to further constrain local control have sped through the Legislature this Session.

“We’re very open to tourism,” said Capt. Will Benson, a Safer Cleaner Ships member. “It’s simply the way in which they’re getting here.”

– Jesse Scheckner, Florida Politics