https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/27/16373484/jones-act-puerto-rico
"...getting goods from the US mainland to Puerto Rico is much more expensive than sending them to Texas or even to other Caribbean islands as a result of a century-old man-made disaster that’s been crippling the island’s economy for a long time.
Meet the Jones Act, an obscure 1920 regulation that
requires that goods shipped from one American port to another be
transported on a ship that is American-built, American-owned, and crewed
by US citizens or permanent residents."
The Jones Act is often suspended by executive action in times of natural disaster, but has not yet (that I know of at this time) been suspended for Puerto Rico's present crisis. It affects the contiguous states very little, but serves to make goods much more expensive for Puerto Rico, Guam, and other American territories, not to mention the states of Hawaii and Alaska.
"Unlike Houston, Puerto Rico isn’t a thriving place that
happens to have been hit by a serious natural disaster. It’s a poor
place by American standards whose economy has been in shambles for about
a decade and whose bankrupt government is now hamstrung by its
creditors. It badly needs an overall improvement in economic conditions —
some kind of prospect for long-term growth — and permanently
lifting the Jones Act is one of the more powerful levers at federal
disposal for doing that. Reducing the cost of living on the island will
make it a more attractive destination for tourism and retirees, while
giving the island at least some shot of developing export industries and
raising living standards for residents.
This could, of course, be achieved by simply repealing the Jones Act, as Sen. John McCain has proposed several times, most recently in July."
Suspending the Jones Act, or better yet, repealing it, is just one action needed to help Puerto Rico get back on its feet. Maybe our executive branch could take time away from Twittering to take care of a few details such as this.
Update: The Jones Act was suspended today to help in relief efforts: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-house-waives-jones-act-for-puerto-rico_us_59cce64fe4b0210dfdfc5b63?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
Update: The Jones Act was suspended today to help in relief efforts: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-house-waives-jones-act-for-puerto-rico_us_59cce64fe4b0210dfdfc5b63?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
When Trumpoleon gets through searching for grass stains on the knees of NFL football players, and after he finds a new twitter handle for Rocket Man, and once someone tells him the Puerto Ricans -- whom he knows so well from New York, where they serve him in countless ways -- are Americans, and when the greens of Puerto Rico dry out enough to hold a chip shot, I am sure he will get around to suspending the Jones Act. Trump priorities get, um, priority.
ReplyDeleteTrump seemed to make some weird conflation between Puerto Rico's financial straits, the hurricane, and emergency aid in his tweets. It was a surreal week over there in Twitter:
ReplyDeleteTexas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble..
..It's old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars....
..owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top priorities - and doing well. #FEMA
The bunkers must be drying. He did sign the suspension of the Jones Act. I'll bet no one told him that, once again, America is hiring foreign labor because it is cheaper. Just like his revocable trust and Ivanka do.
ReplyDeleteBut never mind, he is going to make the middle class happy by cutting taxes on the rich. It says so in the press release. The poor will find out what it costs them when it comes to paying for the middle-class-pleasing tax cut for people with enough money not to be middle class.
Thanks for the update, Tom.
DeleteSince they are basically going to have to start over with their electrical grid, among other things; it may be an opportunity for Puerto Rico to pursue some green energy initiatives. It seems like solar power would be a good option there. It has the additional advantage that solar collectors can be point-of-use, not everything has to be on a grid.
ReplyDeleteSolar: somewhere I read a clip about solar power users in Florida being up and running after the storm passed. True?
ReplyDeleteThere were some people like that. But the system must have home battery storage. If they rely on grid for sunless hours, they're dead like everyone else even during the day.
DeleteHere's a house that survived Irma in FL, 4 foot storm surge and all. A house for the climate of the future.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.monolithic.org/news-feed/monolithic-dome-survives-hurricane-irma