Jones Act
Dear Editor: Antiquated or obsolete laws can be amusing; I recently learned that an obscure medieval law provides the right to drive sheep across London Bridge. Fortunately, no one is raising sheep in London anymore.
Other antiquated or obsolete laws are painful to the public. Generally, these laws stay in place because they benefit the few at the expense of the many. A complete absence of reflecting changes that have occurred in the real world is a common trait of such ineffective regulation.
Unique situations where antiquated or obsolete laws end up becoming what they were intended to prevent exist today, again the public bears the cost. The cost is disproportionate to 1st Nation and other rural residents. The obsolete and antiquated law I speak of is the Jones Act.
How would the public benefit from reforming the Jones Act? Lower freight costs, would be one immediate effect. Since I have lived in Alaska (47 years), all politicians promise to do something about the high cost of living but rarely follow through with action, such as pushing for changes to this protectionist shipping law.
The Alaska Marine Highway system would also benefit by being able to replace vessels cheaper and faster, saving the State of Alaska hundreds of millions of dollars and improving service with modern vessels. Doing so would provide the system an opportunity to save itself and its responsibility to coastal communities that for some, will go another year without any service. The promise of good maritime employment with an increasing fleet of new vessels in Alaska waters would provide jobs that support families and communities. The shipyards would be more productive working on newer technology and materials. The fishing industry also wouldbenefit from more competitive freight rates and the ability to modernize its fleet at dramatically lower cost. Southcentral Alaska would be able to export natural gas to US sources.
Our elected officials generally support the Jones Act due to the support they receive from the maritime unions and shipping interests. That is how the system works. The maritime unions in concert with the shipping companies are obsessed with protecting a law that is hindering Alaska’s economy. Reform can work in their interest as well.
Allowing vessels to be purchased from more efficient and less costly international shipyards would mean more union membership. Shipping firms have already had a 100-year head start and capital to invest in new technology and equipment. A growing, modernized fleet would be a win for the country’s national security. More of everything means the political world gets to bolster their resumes. In other words, win, win. Oh yes, the public would finally get their due.
Numerous shipyards around the world build ships better, faster and much cheaper than under the Jones Act. A number of these shipyards are located in countries that are military allies of the U.S.A. A maritime career is more appealing, safer and productive with new technology and equipment. More vessels mean more shipyard demand for repair and maintenance services. Numerous industries would also benefit greatly.
Alaska is now combatting population and cost of living fluctuations that conflict with a bright future. The Jones Act modernization will save hundreds of millions of dollars each year for businesses and residents of Alaska. Our country would also benefit by billions of dollars by reducing the cost of transportation within our vast country. It would also have important environmental benefits by encouraging the use of more carbon-friendly maritime transport on newer and more efficient vessels. The installation of off-shore wind farms would also become easier and less costly.
https://www.cato.org/blog/jones-act-exacerbates-us-ferry-system-struggles.
Bradley L. Shaffer, CPA (retired)
Sitka
Ongoing Peace Vigil
Dear Editor: Thank you, Cindy Litman, for your thoughtful letter of Friday, May 10, in the Sentinel.
Let me add that I personally have been standing vigil since Christmas Eve, standing in solidarity with those far away innocent civilians being so cruelly slaughtered in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank – American tax dollars at work.
This is not the first genocide in history, we all know. I have lost distant relatives in the Armenian genocide (1915, 1.2 million killed) and in the Shoah, where many millions were massacred, not only Jews, but also Roma, LGBTQ+ people, and the mentally or physically disabled, and pacifists and refuseniks. And students.
Historically, starting in around 1865 there was the genocide in the Belgian Congo, where anywhere from 1.5-13 million people were killed. Modern genocides include Bosnia and Rwanda, Myanmar and there are more, tragically more.
What is one to take from this? Well, humans are not very nice. They are capable of unbelievable horrors, behaving brutally without any morals or scruples, and do not seem to learn from history.
And we can also learn that humans are capable as well of great compassion, caring and standing up, with hearts of kindness, for strangers. Standing up just because it is right, and because they are human.
In the Talmud it is written “The world is maintained by three things, by justice, by truth and by peace.” And Jews are instructed to feel empathy for strangers; “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger. You were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Martin Luther King Jr. said “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
Therefore I stand vigil for peace; I won’t be silent about war crimes and most certainly not about the current, first ever livestreamed genocide.
Nowadays we know what is happening. We have no excuses.
A vigil for peace for all peoples.
All people.
So every week we stand, and oh so appreciate the honks and waves of support and solidarity from Sitkans as they drive by. Thank you.
Everyone is welcome to join. Saturdays noon-1 p.m. at the roundabout.
Nancy Metashvili, Sitka
Thank You, LFS
Dear Editor: Sitka Sound Science Center and the Xóots Elementary School 1st Grade teachers would like to thank LFS Marine Supply for their generous donation of tidebooks for every first-grader in the Sitka School District.
In May each year, SSSC brings a visiting scientist into each first grade class for a full week to teach about tides, intertidal communities and the people who study them, and beach ethics. The first grade “Beach Week” begins in classrooms, transitions to the Science Center and the aquarium, and culminates in a real intertidal study on the beach at low tide.
Throughout the program students learn what causes tides, why they are important to both human and marine life in Southeast Alaska, and how to recognize and read a tidebook. Each student takes their own tidebook home thanks to LFS’s yearly donations, and we wanted to take this opportunity to thank this business for their years of support for this program and for the young scientists of Sitka.
Sitka Sound Science Center
and the Xóots Elementary School
First Grade teachers
