Plenty of American ships can move oil to East Coast Re: “Remember the flap over foreign ships and the Deepwater Horizon cleanup?” June 23
Mark Tapscott correctly admonished President Obama for his irrational, counterintuitive decision to allow foreign tankers and foreign crews to move Strategic Petroleum Reserve crude from our Gulf Coast to our East Coast. But he makes some fundamental errors.
First, he failed to report that there are plenty of American ships with American crews available to move the crude. Federal law requires that domestic maritime shipments move aboard U.S.-owned, U.S.-built and U.S.-manned vessels. This policy is consistent with the ones that prohibit Air France from flying passengers from Atlanta to New York, or prevent Mexican tank truck operators from making deliveries to your local gas station.
Second, Mr. Tapscott wrote that “[President] Obama resolutely refused last year to waive the Jones Act in order to allow the [vessel] DEME and other equipment offered by foreign nations to be brought to the Deepwater Horizon cleanup.” That’s simply not true.
Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, then serving as national incident commander, testified on numerous occasions that a Jones Act waiver was never required for the operations in which foreign vessels would be engaged. But in the unlikely event that would change, Allen said, “Should any waivers be needed, we are prepared to process them as quickly as possible to allow vital spill response activities being undertaken by foreign-flagged vessels to continue without delay.”
Jim Adams
New Orleans
Obama administration is full of green ideologues
The Obama administration continues to load federal agencies with known enemies of oil and gas exploration and drilling. These green left-wing activists and ideologues will cause more harm to our already failing economy.
The latest addition to Obama’s empire is Green Peace activist Rebecca Wodder, whom Obama picked to run the National Park Service — a $2.9 billion operation with more than 21,000 employees.
No wonder our economy is headed for a double-dip recession, which, according to Obama, is just a dip in the road.
Al Eisner
Silver Spring
Most important qualification for president is honesty
Thanks to the media, Americans are turning their eyes to the 2012 presidential election and will be looking for the new president to provide them with all their needs and wants.
Most would like to have world peace, many would just like to have a job, and there are those who want some kind of handout from the government.
But no matter who is elected president, it is up to us to supply our own wants and our needs. The government’s role is to pass laws protecting people’s right to enjoy the fruits of their own labor. America was built by honest, hard-working people and that is the only way she can prosper in the future.
As far as electing a president, the No. 1 concern when we are at the ballot box should be: Is he or she honest?
George T. Weir
Jacksboro, Texas
