CEI Weekly: Response to EPA Cover Up Increases

CEI Weekly is a compilation of articles and blog posts from CEI’s fellows and associates sent out via e-mail every Friday. Also included in the Weekly newsletter is a brief description of CEI’s weekly podcast and a feature on a major CEI breakthrough made during the week. To sign up for CEI Weekly, go to http://cei.org/newsletters.
CEI Weekly
July 17, 2009
>>Media Continues to Respond to the EPA Cover-Up:
Wall St. Journal column by Kim Strassel
Syndicated columns by Debra Saunders (SF Chronicle) and Walter Williams (State Journal Register)
UK Telegraph piece, putting the suppressed study in an international context – by Christopher Booker
NYTimes/Greenwire online feature on Sen. Barrasso, describing his raising the cover-up issue at a July 7 Senate hearing – by Noelle Strauband Robin Bravender
>>The most recent action occured on July 16 when a full Republican membership of a House investigations subcommittee formally demanded a full response on the cover-up.
>> CEI’s Policy Highlights
Free Market Strategies for Insurance Reform— Eli Lehrer
Obama Surgeon General Pick Challenged to Focus on Private Initiative, Not Government Controls— Greg Conko

>>Shaping the Debate

Overregulation on Tap
Angela Logomasini in The Washington Post
A Real Choice on Climate Change: Do Nothing
William Yeatman in Real Clear World
What About Trade?
Tatiana Kryzhanovskaya in The Boston Globe
>>Best of the Blogs
Flying Is a Taxable Event
by Ryan Young
“The potential specter of federal carry-on bag size restrictions has not deterred me from flying. But my jaw nearly hit the floor recently when I saw that I had paid more in taxes and fees than for actual airfare for an international flight.”
Obama’s Anti-Science Czar
by Marc Scribner
“Last week, Michelle Malkin posted on the disturbing past of Obama’s. . . “science czar”–John Holdren. . . In a book Holdren co-authored in 1977, the man now firmly in control of science policy in this country wrote that:
• Women could be forced to abort their pregnancies, whether they wanted to or not;
• The population at large could be sterilized by infertility drugs intentionally put into the nation’s drinking water or in food;”
Fishy Politics May Harm US Consumers
by Greg Conko

The U.S. catfish farming industry. . . faces tough competition from Vietnamese imports, the value of which rose from $2 million in 1998 to $46 million in 2002. . . in 2002, they convinced Congress pass a law forbidding Vietnamese catfish, which is a different species than the one farmed domestically, from being labeled as “catfish. . . American consumers seem to like the relatively inexpensive imports, no matter what they’re called. So, in 2003, the US farmed fish industry secured a punitive tariff of up to 64 percent on the Vietnamese fish.

America’s Worst Idea?
by Iain Murray
“The nationalization of so much wonderful scenery has led to appalling mismanagement and environmental degradation.  When the Parks Service and Forest Service spent hours in 1988 debating whether or not a fire counted as “natural” because it started from a lighning bolt striking a telegraph pole, large areas of Yellowstone National Park burned to ashes.”
Documentary Highlights Jersey Shore Eminent Domain Abuse
by Marc Scribner

While the public outrage over eminent domain abuse following the 2005 Kelo ruling has waned to some degree, the controversy surrounding private property takings for purposes of “economic redevelopment” still burns in many municipalities across the country. Now a new documentary, titled Greetings from Asbury Park seeks to bring national attention to the plight of one elderly woman fighting to keep the home she has lived in for two generations.

>>CEI in the News
The San Francisco Chronicle— Sam Kazman

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/12/IN5618I1DR.DTL

The Daily Denver News— William Yeatman
nsurance News Net— Eli Lehrer
>>Podcast

Episode 51: Watch for Falling Rupees
We start with Judge Sotomayor in the Senate hot seat, a privacy threat from “smart” passports and why Rep. Dan Lipinski has decided your suitcase is too big. The discussion continues with Rep. John Murtha’s expanding corruption scandal, beer news from the Beaver State and the arrival of Wal-Mart in India. We wrap up with this week’s dose of brothel-themed Olympic News.
>>Support CEI
Like what you read?
The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s 25-year record of success is made possible by our over 3,000 supporters. Make sure to stop by www.cei.org/support and make a donation to continue your support or become a supporter. Curious about all the possible ways to donate to CEI? Contact Al Canata at [email protected] or 202-331-2280 to find out more.
Sign up for CEI Weekly at http://cei.org/newsletters
Charles Huang
Web and Media Associate
Competitive Enterprise Institute
202-331-1010