What the Jones Act Has to Do With Your Car’s Gas Tank

The struggle by the energy industry and federal government to keep the Colonial Pipeline outage from causing widespread fuel shortages on the East Coast has renewed discussion about a 101-year-old law meant to protect the domestic shipping industry. The Jones Act usually gets attention in the wake of hurricanes, but the administration is now considering waiving the law to help fill the fuel supply gap left by the closed pipeline, which was taken out of service after a ransomware attack.

Passed in 1920, the law mandates that vessels moving between U.S. ports be built and registered in the country as well as crewed by Americans. The law sought to encourage U.S. shipbuilding, protect the country’s national security and grow its merchant marine force.