CEI Daily Update
Issues in the News
1. ENVIRONMENT
British newspaper The Guardian publishes a list of 50 people “who could save the planet“.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Journalism Fellow Lene Johansen on her family’s experience with one of them:
“When commercial whaling started up again [in Norway] in the 1990s, there was only one boat left among the bustling whaling fleet on the eastern and southern coast of Norway. … The lone boat left was Senet, which I used to dive from during hot summer afternoons. Senet is my granduncle’s boat. That’s where my worried sister comes in — one morning she came up to our house very startled and said that someone had bombed the harbor. This was not exactly true, someone had bombed Senet. The Guardian just listed the bomber as one of their 50 most influential environmentalists. His name is Paul Watson, the founder of eco-terrorist group Sea Shepherd. Terrorism makes you influential for sure, but it should only get you on a most-wanted list, not a list of environmental activists.”
2. HEALTH
Health officials warn of possible health concerns associated with compact fluorescent light bulbs.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: General Counsel Sam Kazman on the recent ban on traditional incandescent bulbs:
“A New Yorker cartoon from several years ago shows a vast, cubicle-filled office, with a manager explaining that the ‘dim fluorescent lighting is meant to emphasize the general absence of hope.’ Fluorescents aren't all that bad. In fact, they've steadily gained market share in recent years. But from now on their popularity will rest not on consumer preferences, but on the force of law. If there's anything about fluorescents that involves the general absence of hope, it's that Congress has been able to mandate them with so little opposition.”
3. ECONOMICS
Government officials around the world enact tax cuts to spur economic growth.
CEI Expert Available to Comment: Adjunct Fellow Doug Bandow on how the U.S. is being left behind:
“Americans like to believe that they are a free people, certainly freer than the Europeans. And the U.S. economy has been much more vibrant than those of most European nations for years. However, America risks losing its advantage. Even as some U.S. politicians complain about how much taxes have been cut, socialist European leaders are proposing to slash rates below those in America. A commitment to cut taxes is spreading elsewhere in the world–to the Mideast, for instance.”
Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
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