Thursday, March 28, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Friday, August 23, 2019
Make the Jones Act worse?
By Keli'i Akina PhD @ 9:32 PM :: 4589 Views :: Energy, Jones Act

Make the Jones Act worse?

From Grassroot Institute, August 23, 2019

It’s probably not news to you that the federal Jones Act requires all goods shipped between U.S. ports to be on ships built, owned and flagged in the U.S. and crewed mostly by Americans.

You probably also are aware of the many absurdities it produces — like how it’s cheaper for American livestock farmers to buy grain from Canada than from the U.S. Or how states like Virginia have to bring in road salt from Chile rather than having it shipped from Ohio.

Such stories demonstrate how the Jones Act defies common sense. But nothing compares to what is happening when it comes to the shipment of liquid natural gas. Or how there is a move in Congress to make things worse.

Over the past several years, U.S. exports of LNG have grown dramatically. This year, America became the world’s third-largest LNG exporter, behind Qatar and Australia. But the lack of Jones Act-compliant LNG tankers means that not everyone can benefit from this boom. According to the American Enterprise Institute, Puerto Rico receives less than 1 percent of its LNG from the U.S., instead importing it from countries like Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom — this despite the fact that the average price of U.S. LNG is about 40 percent lower than from Europe and South America.

The fact is that there are no LNG tankers in the current Jones Act fleet, making it expensive or impossible for places like Puerto Rico and Hawaii to benefit from the growth in American LNG exports. This economic reality prompted Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) to propose a modification to the Jones Act that would eliminate its requirement for LNG tankers.

Sen. Lee captured the absurdity of the Act’s effect on LNG shipping in a hearing where he asked an LNG expert, “In what universe would it make sense for us to keep [restrictive cabotage laws] and not even amend them so as to allow for a commodity that Americans produce in great abundance and rely on in great abundance to be transported from one U.S. port to another without a Jones Act-compliant flagged ship … that doesn’t even exist? What could be the plausible public policy justification for keeping such a law and not creating an exception to a law like that?”

Unsurprisingly, the expert laughed and responded that there is no good answer to a question like that. Yet, some on Capitol Hill think the answer to the lack of LNG tankers is more protectionism. Rather than modify the Jones Act to allow for more ships, they want to extend its provisions beyond its current scope.

The Energizing American Shipbuilding Act (S. 2167 and H.R. 3829), introduced by Sen. John Wicker (R-Miss.) and Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), respectively, would require that a percentage of natural gas and crude oil exported from the U.S. to other countries be on tankers built and flagged in the U.S. The clear intent of the bill is to incentivize U.S. shipyards to build Jones Act-compliant LNG tankers.

The Jones Act is about to celebrate its 100th birthday. It has failed in its purpose to protect the U.S. shipbuilding industry. Instead, the number of ships in the Jones Act fleet has continued to shrink. All the while, American consumers and businesses have had to foot the bill in the form of higher prices.

If a century of protectionism has failed to produce even one Jones Act-compliant LNG tanker — during a boom in LNG production, no less — then more protectionism is not the answer. Instead, we should modify the Jones Act for the 21st century with an update that accepts the changing face of U.S. commerce, trade, and industry.

E hana kakou! (Let's work together!) 

Keli'i Akina, Ph.D.

President/CEO, Grassroot Institute

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT