McCain Amendment to Keystone Pipeline Bill Blasted as a Job Killer by Sea Captains’ Union

[Godhumor]

1. I work in a Jones Act industry

McCain has been trying to remove the Jones Act since he got into congress.


That said, the shipbuilding part of the act is problematic. On the Great Lakes, a new freighter entirely built in the US can run up to 100 million dollars...a number not a single GL fleet can afford. Only two new vessels have been introduced onto the lakes since 2000. And, frankly, the fleets are aging. The last great building wave was in the 1970s when the government heavily subsidized the building of boats. It will be interesting to see how it will respond as vessels start being scrapped without replacements lined up.