by Christine Hall
September 7, 2007

Issues in the News

1.    ENERGY & AGRICULTURE

 The "UN warns of unrest as food price inflation hits developing countries,"

pointing the finger at demand from developing countries, a rising global

population, floods and droughts, and competition from the biofuel industry,

reports the Financial Times today. 

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Energy Policy Analyst William Yeatman

on the all-pain,no-gain infatuation with biofuels:

  "The biofuel fad hurts the poorest of the world and does little, if

anything, to mitigate climate change."

2.   LEGAL/CONSTITUTIONAL

The New Jersey Supreme Court has rejected a nationwide

class action against Merck over its drug Vioxx, recognizing that it would be

inappropriate to apply New Jersey's consumer protection law to claims all

across the country.  CEI Experts  Available to Comment:  Legal Counsel

Hans Bader: 

  "That [decision] was correct. State consumer-protection laws vary widely

from state to state, meaning that a nationwide consumer class action cannot

apply a uniform law. State consumer-protection laws vary widely in their

language, and even similarly phrased consumer-protection laws have been

interpreted very differently from state to state by different state

judiciaries."  

Read more.

3.    INSURANCE

Senator Tim Johnson returned to work yesterday, which means the debate over

Optional Federal Chartering of insurance will heat up. Johnson's National Insurance Act would likely improve the insurance markets around the country.  CEI Expert Available to Comment: Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer:

  "It's pretty simple to describe: Let insurance companies do what banks have

done since the Civil War and subject themselves to federal rather than state

regulation while simultaneously getting rid of confusing and unnecessary

rate regulatory regimes."

Read more.

Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit

CEI's blog, Open Market.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To contact a CEI expert for comment or interviews, please call the CEI

communications department at 202-331-2258  or email to  chall@cei.org.

Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To contact a CEI expert for comment or interviews, please call the CEI communications department at 202-331-2273 or email to pr@cei.org.