What will the President of The United States do?

I think the point is that the USVI taxes that $12 billion of revenue, and now they can't.

The taxes Hovensa pays are a lower rate than the rest of us, but it still amounted to a larger number than $0.

But more to the point is the fact that a chunk of the Hovensa revenue went to pay salaries to the workers who live here and spend money here... and those figures are what make up much of the revenue to the OTHER businesses on St. Croix. That money now goes away, which means the other STX figure for non-Hovensa revenue will also dramatically subside... as will the taxes upon it. It's all connected.

burris09 - The money going into the pockets of residents who have small businesses will decrease because of the Hovensa closure. This isn't a distortion. This is basic mathematics. If their customers go away, their businesses will suffer and in some cases close.

We all need to recognize the tendrils of cause/effect that will reach out into all of our lives. We need to understand the fullness of what we are facing before we can seriously begin to make a plan for how to respond individually and collectively. This is more complex than it first appears as the refinery didn't exist in a bubble all its own. It's intertwined in the entire life of the island just as when you get liver disease or lung cancer the entire body suffers. There are some things too big to live without or to replace with a transplant easily. So how long will this island need to be on a heart-lung machine (handouts from the feds and massive people leaving island) before a transplant can replace the void Hovensa leaves?

I get most of the Facebook postings in my Twitter feed. Even before the Hovensa announcement, I've been struck by how negative most of them are. Most people on island do not have the attitudes portrayed on there. I have no idea how to change the negativity but it would be nice to see a change in how the people on STX are portrayed.