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The Jones Act, a federal law passed in 1920, is making headlines in 2010 thanks to (what else?) the oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico 2010. The Jones Act was passed 90 years ago to give U.S. shipping companies an advantage over the rest of the world in U.S. waters. Today the Jones Act -- which requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S. ships which 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. If the Obama administration was not previously aware of the effect the Jones Act is having on the disaster, chances are it is now. Possibly a simple executive order suspending the Jones Act would be more productive than other things they're doing.

Source for this article: Jones Act of 1920 hinders best response to gulf oil spill in 2010 By Personal Money Store

Jones Act slows the oil spill cleanup efforts

The Jones Act prevented any country from offering the U.S. assistance within the oil spill cleanup soon following the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killed 11 individuals, 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, various European nations offered the Obama administration ships to help in the clean-up of the Gulf. A Belgian newspaper, De Standaard, explained that European firms working with the U.S. could complete the task in three months, rather than an estimated nine months if done by the U.S. alone. According to De Standaard, no U.S. companies have the ships to achieve 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 from participating within the oil spill cleanup. Fox News says politics are taking precedent over ensuring the best possible oil spill cleanup effort. Joseph Carafano of the Heritage Foundation suggested to Fox News the most proven foreign oil cleanup ships remain on the sidelines because of the Obama administration’s close relationship with all 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.

Liability of BP oil spill

Waiving the Jones Act might just do more to blunt the damage of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico than other legal moves being considered. According to the Wall Street Journal, President Obama, talking about BP oil spill liability on Thursday, said Congress must “update the laws to make certain the people 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 business like that. But some law professors and corporate attorneys said some of the Justice Department attorneys could use language in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to expand BP’s oil spill liability.

The Jones Act time’s up

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. The Heritage Foundation points out you will find also private sector jobs not being created within the U.S. given that the Jones Act prices U.S. companies out of the competitive global market. If mounting public awareness of the law results in the Jones Act being waived, the BP oil spill may be the catalyst for repealing it altogether.

Additional details at these websites

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/