You rarely see the selfishness of protectionists put in as sharp relief as this:
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plan to create sand berms to keep oil from reaching the coastline originally came from the marine contractor Van Oord and the research institute Deltares, both in the Netherlands. BP pledged $360 million for the plan, but U.S. dredging companies — which have less than one-fifth of the capacity of Dutch dredging firms — have objected to foreign companies’ participation.
Garret Graves, who chairs Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, wrote in an e-mail that state officials “have made it clear to our contractors from the beginning that we want to use American dredges to complete this sand berm as quickly as possible. … Ultimately, any effort to expedite these berms will be fully considered, but we remain committed to our American companies.”
Better not to get it done than leave American firms off the gravy train, I guess.
Internet Scofflaw 