This New Year’s Day editorial in Bloomberg News makes an excellent case for scuttling the Jones Act, the 100-year-old federal law that requires shipping between U.S. ports to be done on U.S. vessels with U.S. crews.

But for Hawaii, as the editorial points out, that means the cost of goods is at least 30 percent higher by many estimates, adding to our tremendous cost of living.

The late Sen. Dan Inouye was adamant that the Jones Act remain as is, and other members of the Hawaii delegation have opposed any sort of reform as well. Keeping the law has been a goal of strong and vocal political supporters including unions and U.S. shipbuilders. But the politics of that situation may be changing with the passing of Inouye.

A freighter passes under the Golden Gate Bridge in this photo by CJ Isherwood on flicker.com.