Free Republic

While Carnival Corporation focuses on restarting operations in December, a Florida judge might throw a spanner in the works for them. The Miami Herald reports that U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida Patricia Seitz, who heads an investigation against the company for environmental crimes, announced she would require the company to comply with their probation obligations 60-days before ships re-enter U.S. waters. The order will require each ship to carry certification from CEO Arnold Donald regarding its environmental compliance status and serve a 60-day notification period before re-entering. Carnival Corporation lawyers scrambled to have a delay of...

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev called on Tuesday for the creation of an international court to try environmental crimes, in an interview published in French daily Le Monde. "I would personally look favourably upon creating an international tribunal to try those responsible for environmental crimes, both business leaders and the heads of state or government," the 81-year-old Nobel Peace Prize recipient said. Gorbachev, who was in the southern French city of Marseille on Monday to speak at the Sixth World Water Forum, has led the environmental pressure group Green Cross International since 1993.

... The E.P.A.’s list, complete with mug shots of the fugitives, was established in December to try to draw attention to serious environmental crimes. “We take them seriously, and there are serious consequences,” said Doug Parker, deputy director of the agency’s criminal investigation division. Environmental crimes become more common as regulations grow stronger, Mr. Parker added. “All these crimes are driven by money,” he said. “When a regulatory scheme is developed, it invariably puts a cost on people. People will use criminal means to avoid compliance, either saving a lot of money or, in Ms. Deleon’s case, making a lot...