Environmental Costs of the Jones Act
An often overlooked aspect of the Jones Act is its environmental effects. By raising the cost of waterborne transportation, the law encourages the use of trucks and rail, which generate more greenhouse gases and emit pollutants that are in many ways more harmful than those emitted by waterborne transport. In a new paper, Timothy Fitzgerald presents a detailed examination of the potential environmental gains that could be realized from reform or repeal of the law.
Why the U.S. Can’t Afford a Green New Deal
As the list of Democratic presidential candidates grows, so do their promises. Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand and others have all backed the Green New Deal, which promises to address climate change and inequality by providing universal health care and creating millions of jobs. However, while the GND has lots of warm and fuzzy language, the climate change‐curbing veneer amounts to a Trojan horse for a bigger nationalization of the economy than seen under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Cato scholars have discussed the plan’s fatal flaws.
Privatizing Federal Electricity Infrastructure
Private‐sector utilities provide the bulk of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution in the United States. However, the federal government also owns a share of the nation’s electricity infrastructure. A new bulletin from Cato scholar Chris Edwards argues that federal power infrastructure should be privatized and that subsidies to rural electric cooperatives should be ended.
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