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Bush Administration News

18 Feb 2021

Inside Cruise Shipping's Fight for Survival

Photo Source: Port Everglades

In early 2021, the somber news from the cruise sector continued. For some cruise brands, their own version of “lockdowns” will have spanned an entire year. By late January, 2021, Carnival and others were hesitantly pegging their restarts for April/May 2021, and for some markets, late summer, under a Conditional Sail Order promulgated late last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).What else to do but look ahead?In preliminary earnings guidance, Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL)…

26 Jun 2020

Video: President Trump Visits Fincantieri Marinette Marine

President Trump delivers remarks at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin (Photo: Fincantieri Marinette Marine)

President Donald Trump visited Fincantieri Marinette Marine Thursday following the Wisconsin shipyard’s recent contract award to design and build the U.S. Navy's first-in-class FFG(X) guided-missile frigate.The first U.S. president to visit the Marinette Marine shipyard, Trump toured the facilities where Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) are currently built and met with employees before delivering remarks in which he pledged support to the U.S. shipbuilding industry and congratulated the shipyard for winning the multibillion dollar frigate contract."Not long ago…

22 Mar 2019

OP/ED: The Capital Construction Fund

Tom Escher, owner, Red and White Fleet

How to make the Capital Construction Fund work for all vessel owners and operators.The Red and White Fleet is a passenger vessel operator on San Francisco bay with roots back to 1892. We make no secret of the fact that we want to build new vessels with zero environmental signatures, all in an effort to increase employment for shipyard workers, provide new jobs for US mariners, and provide a training ground to support the growth of the U.S. flag deep sea ships. That mission is, today, unnecessarily difficult. The reasons why are easy to see.Not too long ago, H.

27 Feb 2014

Insights: Outgoing Transportation Sec. Connaughton

Until January of this year, Sean Connaughton oversaw seven state agencies with more than 9,700 employees and combined annual budgets of $5 billion. Connaughton is probably better known to MarineNews readers as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administrator during the second Bush Administration. As U.S. Maritime Administrator, he was responsible for the daily management of that agency and its promotional programs for the marine transportation industry. This included advising and assisting the Secretary of Transportation on commercial maritime matters…

05 May 2013

AWEA Chicago Conference & Expo Kicks Off

New  American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) leadership takes helm with EDPR’s Gabriel Alonso chairing the board. Tom Kiernan to speak as incoming CEO. Generating a sense of electricity like the thousands of wind turbines in the region, the WINDPOWER 2013 Conference & Exhibition (May 5-8, 2013) officially came online in Chicago, a hub for the American wind energy industry. New leadership for the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) is first being inducted, followed by a packed schedule of educational sessions and a dynamic exhibition covering the area of 11 football fields. WINDPOWER 2013 also marks the start of a new industry year, with Gabriel Alonso, CEO of EDP Renewables North America, beginning his one-year term as Board Chair.

25 Jun 2012

INSIGHTS: Sean T. Connaughton

Sean Connaughton, Secretary of Transportation for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Sean Connaughton, Secretary of Transportation for the Commonwealth of Virginia, oversees seven state agencies with more than 9,700 employees and combined annual budgets of $5 billion. But this transportation professional is perhaps best known to MarineNews readers as the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administrator during the second Bush Administration. As U.S. Maritime Administrator, he was responsible for the daily management of that agency and its promotional programs for the marine transportation industry.

09 Mar 2012

Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues

Summary - A Report to Congress. The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region’s future. The United States, by virtue of Alaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests in the region. On January 12, 2009, the George W. Bush Administration released a presidential directive, called National Security Presidential Directive 66/Homeland Security Presidential Directive 25 (NSPD 66/HSPD 25), establishing a new U.S. policy for the Arctic region. Record low extent of Arctic sea ice in 2007 focused scientific and policy attention on its linkage to global climate change, and to the implications of projected ice-free seasons in the Arctic within decades.

14 Jun 2011

Arctic Spill “Response Gap” Under the Microscope

Make no mistake about it: the Arctic is open for business. The cumulative environmental footprint of oil exploration outfits, merchant shipping, mining, eco-tourism and the cruise ship trades is thus far minor, but the potential for an exponential increase in commerce – especially if the climate trends now affecting the region continue – is seemingly limitless. For the maritime industry, the down side to this is as big as the most promising business opportunity to come along in decades. The utility of a Northern Sea Route that follows the Siberian coastline, producing impressive time and fuel savings, a reduced emissions footprint, and elimination of canal transit fees for shippers moving goods between Europe and Asia has already been proven.

26 Jan 2011

This Day in U.S. Coast Guard History – January 26

1953- U .S. Coast Guard forces assisted civilian authorities in evacuating 191 persons from the Coxuille Valley flood area. 1963-The modern Canadian Coast Guard was founded on this date. A Mari usque ad Mare! 1991- Upon receiving a request from the Saudi government, the Bush Administration determined that the Coast Guard would head an interagency team that would assist the Saudi government in an oil spill assessment and plan for a clean-up operation after an intentional Iraqi oil spill. 1990- Coast Guard Air Station St. Augustine, home of CGAW-1, was formally commissioned on 26 January 1990. The Navy loaned E2Cs to the Coast Guard for use in the efforts by CGAW-1 to track drug shipments by radar.

26 Jan 2010

This Day in Coast Guard History – Jan. 26

1953- U .S. Coast Guard forces assisted civilian authorities in evacuating 191 persons from the Coxuille Valley flood area. 1963-The modern Canadian Coast Guard was founded on this date. A Mari usque ad Mare! 1991- Upon receiving a request from the Saudi government, the Bush Administration determined that the Coast Guard would head an interagency team that would assist the Saudi government in an oil spill assessment and plan for a clean-up operation after an intentional Iraqi oil spill. 1990- Coast Guard Air Station St. Augustine, home of CGAW-1, was formally commissioned on 26 January 1990. The Navy loaned E2Cs to the Coast Guard for use in the efforts by CGAW-1 to track drug shipments by radar.

09 Dec 2009

Calhoun Named Chair WCI

Photo courtesy Waterways Council, Inc.

Rick Calhoun, president of Cargill Marine and Terminal, Inc., has been elected chairman of the Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI), the national public policy organization advocating a modern and well-maintained national system of ports and inland waterways. “We are at a critical juncture in the U.S. waterways,” Calhoun said. “The waterways infrastructure is aging, with more than half of our nation’s 240 lock chambers operated by the U.S. WCI is supported by more than 200 waterways carriers…

31 Jul 2009

Salazar Statement on Leasing Court Ruling

U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued the following statement regarding the U.S. “I am pleased with the Court’s decision. Consistent with the Department’s request, the Court clarified that its prior ruling only applies to the Chukchi, Beaufort and Bering Seas. On April 17, 2009 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the entire 2007-2012 Outer Continental Shelf oil and natural gas leasing program, ruling that Bush Administration officials did not conduct sufficient scientific and environmental analysis before scheduling oil and gas lease sales on the Outer Continental Shelf off Alaska. The ruling came two years after lease sales had begun under the 2007-2012 OCS oil and natural gas leasing program.

15 May 2009

WCI Opposes Inland Waterways Lockage Fee

Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) is urging the swift rejection of a proposal to phase out the current inland waterways tax on diesel fuel and replace it with a lock usage fee included in President Obama’s FY 2010 proposed budget. This same idea was proposed by the Bush Administration, and soundly rejected by the 110th Congress. Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Terrence Salt testified this week before the House Appropriations Committee’s Energy and Water Development Subcommittee in support of the Army Corps of Engineers FY 2010 budget, including the lockage fee proposal. “This lockage fee is an ill-conceived proposal that should be rejected by this Congress just as it was by the last Congress.

14 May 2009

Opposition to Inland Waterways Lockage Tax

The American Waterways Operators, the national trade association for the tugboat, towboat and barge industry, criticized the proposal in the Obama Administration's Fiscal Year 2010 budget to replace the inland waterways fuel tax with a lockage tax. A similar idea was proposed by the Bush Administration and rejected by the 110th Congress. AWO urges Congress to reject it again. AWO contended that replacing the excise tax on fuel that equitably distributes taxes on all commercial waterways users with a lock usage tax would impose disproportionate tax burdens on vessels transiting certain segments of the inland waterways, while other vessels using the system would pay little or nothing.

20 Mar 2009

Great Lakes Maritime Task Force Report

Thanks to a significant increase in funding for dredging on the Great Lakes in FY08, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was finally able to start reducing the backlog of sediment that is clogging the Great Lakes Navigation System announced Great Lakes Maritime Task Force in its 2008 Annual Report released March 20. “Congress really stepped up to the plate and gave the Corps nearly $140m to dredge Great Lakes ports and waterways in FY08. The outlook for FY09 initially was not as positive. The Bush Administration’s final budget proposed to slash the Lakes’ dredging appropriation by nearly $50m. “Thanks to the Great Lakes delegation, the omnibus bill did bring the Lakes’ dredging appropriation back up to $125m, an increase of $35m over what the Bush Administration had proposed.

18 Jun 2008

USCG Authorization: Provisions of interest

U.S. Coast Guard photo by PAC Tom Sperduto

The bill includes a major (and lengthy) title devoted to ballast water treatment. This would, if enacted, make it a national goal that, by 2015, ballast water when discharged into waters of the United States will contain no living (viable) organisms. This would constitute a ridiculously high standard and would be virtually impossible to test for. Ships would be required to have ballast water management plans approved by the US Coast Guard, but the agency would be given sufficient…

15 Feb 2008

EPA Pressured to Cut Ship Pollution

Some members of Congress and local regulators are demanding that the Bush administration curtail the ship pollutants to protect health instead of waiting for other countries to agree to take action. The Environmental Protection Agency decided to hold off on its own rules for oceangoing vessels while trying to push its standards through the U.N. International Maritime Organization. After that body acts, EPA plans to issue its regulations next year. That's too long, some lawmakers and environmental advocates say. Legislation pending in Congress would require that the EPA act on its own to keep the growing shipping industry from eroding gains made in reducing diesel emissions from vehicles.

06 Feb 2008

FY’09 Federal Budget Proposal Falls Short For Ports

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) announced it is disappointed that the Bush Administration has proposed still another annual budget that would significantly underfund the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Port Security Grant Program and the portion of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Civil Works Program that provides crucial navigation access to ports. While the Administration did increase its funding request for a key program that provides incentives to reduce diesel emissions from trucks and other equipment, the increase is far below what Congress authorized for the program. The Administration's budget request calls for a 7.6 percent overall increase in DHS's budget in fiscal 2008, but recommends a huge decrease for port facility security.

23 Apr 2001

Bush Administration Deems Jones Act ‘Essential’

In its first public statement on the Jones Act, the Bush Administration has declared the law must be maintained as “an essential element of U.S. maritime policy that provides important economic and national security benefits to the nation, such as support of the U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta made the statement in response to a written question following his confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee. The Jones Act requires that cargo moving between U.S. ports be carried in vessels that are U.S.-owned, -built and -crewed. Similar U.S. cabotage laws reserve the movement of passengers and the performance of marine services such as dredging, towing and salvage to U.S.-owned, -built and -crewed vessels.

07 Nov 2001

Where is the All Electric Navy?

"There is a powerful agent, responsive, quick, and easy to use, pliable enough to meet all our needs on board. It does everything. It supplies light and heat for the ship and is the very soul of our mechanical equipment. Jules Verne's classic novel first appeared in 1869. Today, the Navy is standing at the threshold of remarkable capabilities that Jules Verne could barely imagine-a "revolution at sea" akin to the change from sail to steam and from oil-fired plants to nuclear power. But the process for the Navy has not been easy. As a Navy integrated electric drive (IED) insider told me privately: "Innovation is one thing; if you're asking us to change the way we do business…

03 Sep 2003

News: More Ghost Fleet Ships Contracted for Scrap

The U.S. Maritime Administration (MarAd) recently awarded a contract for the disposal of obsolete ships in the James River Reserve Fleet. Post-Service Remediation Partners (PRP) of New York will be awarded a payment of $14.8 million to remove a total of 15 ships from the James River Reserve Fleet. This is the largest removal of obsolete ships in a single year from the National Defense Reserve Fleet since 1993. "As stewards of the environment, the responsible disposal of obsolete ships is a high priority for the Department of Transportation," said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta. The PRP award was the result of a negotiated Program Research and Development Announcement (PRDA) proposal that offered the removal of fifteen ships.

30 Sep 2003

Column: MarAd's CCF: Orphan Child Or Financing Solution?

By H. Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. When the Congress returns to Washington in September, the attention of the Members and of industry representatives will be focused on renewing authorizations for two important maritime programs, the MARAD Title XI Program, and the MARAD/DOD Military Security Program. However, there is a third MARAD program that is at least equally deserving of this September's attention, it is MarAd's Capital Construction Fund ("CCF") Program. 1. CCF Tax Deferral Program: History, Scope & Terms. The CCF Program traces its history to the Revenue Act of 1920. Title VI of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 ("1936 Act") authorized the creation of "regular" and "special" reserve funds into which U.S. citizen liner operators, that were engaged in providing U.S.

08 Jun 2004

Storm Warnings Raised over Readiness Concerns

By Capt. Gordon I. This June's two-year anniversary of the Coast Guard's award of contract for the Integrated Deepwater System reflects steady progress in efforts to modernize the nation's maritime guardians, but heightened concerns over falling readiness have led some congressional lawmakers to renew calls to accelerate the comprehensive 20-plus-year recapitalization program. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thomas H. Collins described his concern over current readiness trends in early March during congressional testimony on the Bush administration's proposed fiscal year 2005 budget. "Our greatest threat to mission performance continues to be that our aircraft…