Jones Act of 1920 hinders best response to gulf oil spill in 2010

A federal law passed in 1920 called the Jones act and is now making headlines because of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico 2010. 90 years ago the Jones Act was passed so the US would have advantage over the rest of the world in US waters when it comes to shipping. Today the Jones Act — which calls for that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S. ships that were constructed within the United States, owned by U.S. citizens and crewed by U.S. citizens — is preventing the rest of the world from helping the U.S. clean up the BP oil spill with state of the art technology. The Obama administration must understand the effect the Jones Act is having on the disaster. Maybe a simple executive order suspending the Jones Act would be more productive than other things they are doing.

Article Source: Jones Act of 1920 hinders best response to gulf oil spill in 2010

Jones Act slows oil spill cleanup

The Jones Act prevented foreign companies from offering the U.S. assistance in the oil spill cleanup soon following the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killed 11 people, sank, blew out the well and began an undersea gusher that has dumped up to 30,000 barrels of oil a day for the past 53 days. The Heritage Foundation reports that within days of the oil spill, several European nations offered the Obama administration ships to assist within the clean-up of the Gulf. A Belgian newspaper, De Standaard, said European firms working with the U.S. could complete the task in 3 months, instead of an estimated nine months if done by the U.S. alone. According to De Standaard, no U.S. companies have the ships to accomplish this task is because those ships would cost twice as much to build within the U.S.

Oil clean up ships barred

The Jones Act is preventing the most advanced oil cleanup ships owned by Belgian, Dutch and Norwegian firms from getting by and helping within the oil spill cleanup. Fox News reports that politics are taking precedent over ensuring the best possible oil spill cleanup effort. Joseph Carafano of the Heritage Foundation suggested to Fox News that the most proven foreign oil cleanup ships remain on the sidelines because of the Obama administration's close relationship with all of of the labor unions. Unions believe the Jones Act protects American jobs, and those unions use their political clout to pressure all of the lawmakers who would waive the law for this one time.

BP oil spill liability

Waiving the Jones Act may do a lot more to blunt the damage of the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico than other legal moves being considered. As outlined by the Wall Street Journal, President Obama, talking about BP oil spill liability on Thursday, said Congress must "update the laws to make sure that the individuals in the Gulf, the fishermen, the hotel owners, families who are dependent for their livelihoods in the Gulf, that they are all made whole." Still, it is questioned whether a law can be passed focusing only on one company like that. But some law professors and corporate attorneys said creative Justice Department attorneys could use language within the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to expand BP's oil spill liability.

Time’s up for The Jones Act

In 2010, the Jones act might eliminate jobs although it was created to protect jobs. Those who make a living off fishing, tourism, and even oil are watching it all fall apart. It was explained by the Heritage Foundation that you will find also private sector jobs not being created in the U.S. since the Jones Act prices U.S. companies out of the competitive global market. Mounting public awareness of the law results within the Jones Act being waived, and also the BP oil spill may be the catalyst for repealing it altogether.

A lot more data on this topic

Heritage Foundation

blog.heritage.org/2010/06/08/to-save-the-gulf-send-the-jones-act-to-davy-jones'-locker/

Fox News

liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/10/jones-act-slowing-oil-spill-cleanup/?test=latestnews

Wall Street Journal

blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/06/11/on-the-government-bp-and-the-law/