“Forced use of higher-cost U.S.-flag vessels has benefitted domestic water carrier firms, shipbuilding companies, and associated labor at the expense of consumers. This advantage, however, has been diluted because inflated shipping costs has reduced the attractiveness of barge and tanker transport compared to other alternatives.”

The Puerto Rico recovery effort has brought attention to an arcane special-interest cabotage regulation that delayed shipments to the imperiled island–and required a waiver from President Trump: Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, [(Public Law 261, 41 Stat. 988 (1920)], commonly known as the Jones Act.

Previous posts at MasterResource (here and here) examined the history of oil-export regulation by the federal government; this post surveys the history of water-vessel restrictions from Washington, D.C. directly or indirectly impacting oceanic commerce.…

“When environmental groups act to endanger the very environment they claim to be defending, what conclusion must be drawn in regards to their purpose? There goal is not transparency, truth, nor are these isolated incidents. It is a attempt to reverse the march of progress. As one environmental protestor recently stated at an Occupy rally, ‘Our very existence is bad for the planet.’ And another, ‘if you take humanity off this planet, the planet would explode with prosperity.’”

Energy Transfer Partners L.P. has sued Greenpeace International, Earth First!, Red Warrior Camp and numerous other parties accusing them of collaboration as a “Criminal Enterprise”. The suit states “the Enterprise” collaborated to incite terrorist acts, vandalism and the fabrication of false information in an effort to generate publicity for the purpose of raising money.…

Editor Note: Earlier this summer,  Pierre Desrochers received the 2017 Julian L. Simon Memorial Award at the annual dinner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC. For the community of scholars, it was a great choice. “Dr. Desrochers has carried the torch for Julian Simon’s legacy for more than two decades,” noted CEI President Kent Lassman. “His defense of modern large-scale agriculture and critique of the concept of ‘food miles,’ in The Locavore’s Dilemma informs any reasoned discussion on how to improve the health and wealth of people everywhere.”