The Coastal Conservation League filed a lawsuit against Carnival Cruise Lines, which serves Charleston (South Carolina), apparently in an effort to get them to just leave town. But it's done something else. It seems to have galvanized support from the rest of the community for Carnival and the cruise industry which visits Charleston.
That support was most visibly manifested in a press conference chaired by Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, who characterized the lawsuit as "outrageous and abusive." He said the city will do everything they can to make sure the lawsuit fails. As you can see in the video below of the press conference, he's joined by a couple dozen business leaders of the city. SC State Representative Jim Merrill said, "You will never be able to satisfy this group [the Coastal Conservation League]," and their approach is "sickening."
The suit, as mentioned in the press conference, contains what seems to be many frivolous complaints, such as if you can see the cruise ship at the end of the street that it violates the city's zoning ordinance, or that the Carnival logo on the top of the ship violates the city's sign ordinance. The suit is worth downloading (PDF format) and reading through.
