We have a few victories to celebrate together. Four, in fact. That’s because Hawaii has received four shipments of fuel from refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast — something that hasn’t happened for at least two decades. Moreover, one of those deliveries was propane transported aboard a bulk liquefied petroleum gas
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supported a new state law that will make it easier for a company to operate so-called sea gliders for interisland passenger service, but even better would be for state lawmakers to liberalize interisland maritime regulations completely — cargo transport included. That’s according to Jonathan Helton,
The following is an excerpt from the article “U.S. maritime policy needs an overhaul,” originally published Sept. 6, 2024, by War on the Rocks. _____________ The scale of America’s maritime policy dysfunction has begun to register in Washington but only bold measures will turn it around U.S. maritime policy is
The outdated Jones Act is blamed for increasing East Coast fuel costs, killing a massive wind farm project and crippling LNG tranport In 2020, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii commissioned a study that found the federal maritime law known as the Jones Act costs Hawaii about $1.2 billion a year,
Royal Caribbean’s Adventures of the Seas cruise ship. The following commentary was originally published in The Well News on Dec. 1, 2023. _____________ Cruise ships sailing empty? It’s a recipe for financial loss, and cruise operators avoid it whenever possible. But it does happen. As reported by Newsweek, it happened in
India has abolished its equivalent of the Jones Act — America’s 1920 U.S. maritime law that prohibits foreign shipping competition between U.S. ports and adds to American business and consumer costs. According to news sources such as Splash 24/7 and the India-based National Herald, leading government officials in the world’s
The following article was originally published in CATO at Liberty on August 15, 2023. The author is a trade policy analyst at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., as well as a Grassroot Scholar with the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. ____________ By Colin Grabow In the wake of the deadliest U.S.
The 1920 Jones Act is a familiar topic in Hawaii, but its precursor — the Foreign Dredge Act of 1906 — has largely escaped scrutiny. However, Montana resident Brad Tomasovic researched the maritime law for a year to become the national high school debate champion and shared what he learned with
The following article was published originally on Feb. 4 in Travel Weekly. ____________ A U.S. maritime law enacted during the days before air travel is exporting American tourism dollars to countries such as Canada, Mexico and Aruba. The 1886 Passenger Vessel Services Act does this by preventing foreign-flagged or -built
The Jones Act was the topic of a lively discussion earlier this month on KKCR radio’s “Kauai Soapbox,” moderated by radio host and Kauai County Council member Felicia Cowden. Cowden’s guests were Colin Grabow, Grassroot Scholar and Cato Institute trade policy analyst; Jonathan Helton, Grassroot Institute policy researcher; Mark Coleman,
We have a few victories to celebrate together. Four, in fact. That’s because Hawaii has received four shipments of fuel from refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast — something that hasn’t happened for at least two decades. Moreover, one of those deliveries was propane transported aboard a bulk liquefied petroleum gas
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supported a new state law that will make it easier for a company to operate so-called sea gliders for interisland passenger service, but even better would be for state lawmakers to liberalize interisland maritime regulations completely — cargo transport included. That’s according to Jonathan Helton,
The following is an excerpt from the article “U.S. maritime policy needs an overhaul,” originally published Sept. 6, 2024, by War on the Rocks. _____________ The scale of America’s maritime policy dysfunction has begun to register in Washington but only bold measures will turn it around U.S. maritime policy is
The outdated Jones Act is blamed for increasing East Coast fuel costs, killing a massive wind farm project and crippling LNG tranport In 2020, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii commissioned a study that found the federal maritime law known as the Jones Act costs Hawaii about $1.2 billion a year,
Royal Caribbean’s Adventures of the Seas cruise ship. The following commentary was originally published in The Well News on Dec. 1, 2023. _____________ Cruise ships sailing empty? It’s a recipe for financial loss, and cruise operators avoid it whenever possible. But it does happen. As reported by Newsweek, it happened in
India has abolished its equivalent of the Jones Act — America’s 1920 U.S. maritime law that prohibits foreign shipping competition between U.S. ports and adds to American business and consumer costs. According to news sources such as Splash 24/7 and the India-based National Herald, leading government officials in the world’s
The following article was originally published in CATO at Liberty on August 15, 2023. The author is a trade policy analyst at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., as well as a Grassroot Scholar with the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. ____________ By Colin Grabow In the wake of the deadliest U.S.
The 1920 Jones Act is a familiar topic in Hawaii, but its precursor — the Foreign Dredge Act of 1906 — has largely escaped scrutiny. However, Montana resident Brad Tomasovic researched the maritime law for a year to become the national high school debate champion and shared what he learned with
The following article was published originally on Feb. 4 in Travel Weekly. ____________ A U.S. maritime law enacted during the days before air travel is exporting American tourism dollars to countries such as Canada, Mexico and Aruba. The 1886 Passenger Vessel Services Act does this by preventing foreign-flagged or -built
The Jones Act was the topic of a lively discussion earlier this month on KKCR radio’s “Kauai Soapbox,” moderated by radio host and Kauai County Council member Felicia Cowden. Cowden’s guests were Colin Grabow, Grassroot Scholar and Cato Institute trade policy analyst; Jonathan Helton, Grassroot Institute policy researcher; Mark Coleman,
