Bluewater Network merged with Friends of the Earth in April 2005. This strategic move combined two of the country's most innovative and effective environmental organizations and created a new powerhouse to protect the earth’s peoples and the planet. Friends of the Earth’s expertise in lobbying and its ability to make significant environmental changes to international standards and treaties has enabled Bluewater to expand its clout, particularly in reducing marine ship pollution, while Bluewater's highly successful campaigns to create cleaner cars and reduce greenhouse gases from transportation have boosted Friends of the Earth's trend-setting initiatives to reverse global warming. The former Bluewater office in San Francisco is now Friends of the Earth's west coast office and the staff and board of the two organizations are one, fighting for vital environmental protection under the Friends of the Earth banner.
And now, Friends of the Earth continues to win important victories for climate protection, clean air, clean water and healthy communities through the following former Bluewater projects:
The story of Bluewater Network begins in the province of Kerala, along the coastline on the western side of India’s peninsula. Dr. Russell Long, world-class sailor and environmental activist, traveled there to work with traditional fishermen to design watercraft that could serve the community as well as reduce environmental impacts on Kerala’s waterways. What he found was that the pollution from two-stroke outboard engines was destroying the way of life for these fishermen and their environment.
In response to his experience with the fishermen in Kerala, Russell Long founded Bluewater Network in 1996 as a project of Earth Island Institute and waged an extraordinarily successful campaign to reduce the pollution caused by two-stroke engines in the United States. It has always been Bluewater's mission to stop environmental damage from vehicles and vessels, and to protect human health and the planet by reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
