Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is so desperate to get people back on big boats that his state is suing the federal government to demand cruise ships be permitted to sail once again. DeSantis, who has resisted coronavirus safety protocols through much of the pandemic, made the announcement on Thursday, saying, “We don’t believe the federal government has the right to mothball a major industry for over a year based on very little evidence and very little data.”

The CDC banned cruise ships from sailing at the start of the pandemic after several clusters of coronavirus cases were associated with crew members and passengers last March.

But Florida has three of the world’s busiest ports, and the governor has maintained that the state has lost billions of dollars from the shutdown of the industry over the last year. Since cruising has restarted in other countries, Florida should be able to follow suit, the governor complained. “People are going to cruise one way or another. The question is are we going to do it out of Florida, which is the number one place to do it in the world, or are they going to be doing it out of the Bahamas or other locations?”